


Broken Leg Healing Hearts

by MaskyIsNotAProxy, YourCoolBroKat



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Cuddling, Fix-It, Fluff, I swear shipping will happen at some point, Jay doesn't know what feelings are, M/M, Masky gets a name, Mentioned Past One-Sided Jaylex (in the form of a crush), Nothing more intense than what happens in canon tbh, Pining, Slow Burn, like trying to start a fire with wet twigs slow burn, like very slow burn, will add tags as necessary though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-27 06:15:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 34,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7606897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaskyIsNotAProxy/pseuds/MaskyIsNotAProxy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourCoolBroKat/pseuds/YourCoolBroKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would have happened if Alex and Jay hadn't just left Masky there on the ground of an abandoned house with a broken leg that he'd never get fixed? How much could it have changed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two Roads Diverged...

            Jay couldn’t remember anything other than what he saw from his own camera. Most of his memories of the past and more recent times were all from a strange, sometimes sideways, third person perspective. And that was alright. Usually. But now he really, really wanted to remember, because this time, he knew he was forgetting something—as evidenced by the masked man lying sprawled across the hotel bed with a cast on his leg. Sighing, trying not to panic, and creeping silently as so not to disturb the potentially dangerous man, Jay grabbed his camera and crept over to his laptop. He had some tape watching to do.

 

* * *

 

            “Give me the knife,” Alex said. “Is that… _Tim?”_ Jay sputtered, and then as an afterthought, added, “I’m not giving you the knife!” Alex seemed to boil with rage as Tim struggled under his restraints. “That’s not Tim _anymore,”_ Alex snarled, “And either way he _stabbed_ me! He’s clearly _dangerous. Give me the knife.”_ Jay backed up as Alex walked forwards. “No,” he said with more certainty this time. “Besides, if he’s so dangerous—why didn’t he attack _me?”_ Alex started to back up. “It doesn’t matter. Turn off the camera.” Whatever senses were on high alert already started screaming at him tenfold now. “What? No—hey hey hEY what are you doing what are you _doing—?!?”_ A scream of agony pierced the tension as Alex took a block of cement and brought it down and—

 

* * *

 

            Jay paused the tape, wide-eyed. He shot a quick glance back at the man lying on the bed. Well, that certainly explained the cast, if nothing else. But he was… _dangerous,_ right? So why was he _here?_ “What was I _thinking?”_ Jay muttered to himself. He quickly glanced back at the man again. Tim. Right. It was Tim. And he was… still wearing a mask, for some reason. But the man didn’t stir. The tape was corrupted, so Jay spent quite a while trying to see if any more of it was playable. “Okay,” Jay heaved a sigh, “Time to figure out what happens next.”

 

* * *

 

            “What were you _thinking?”_ Jay screamed at Alex. They were still in the abandoned house, and Jay had pocketed the knife, blood and all—though out of sight of the camera. “I did what I had to do,” Alex said coldly. The man on the floor—Tim, it was Tim—had passed out from pain. Alex remained… surprisingly calm, and it unnerved Jay. “You broke his leg _with a block of cement!”_ Jay retorted. “I could have done worse,” Alex replied coolly, “And I probably should have—” Jay interrupted him with a gross laugh of disdain. He then timidly said, “I don’t think so, Alex…” having lost his fire immediately after laughing. “Excuse me?” Alex said, crossing his arms, and Jay realized that he sounded like a parent that had just been “back-talked.” Who did Alex think he was?

            But regardless, Jay still felt like a little kid under Alex’s gaze. “You _broke_ his LEG!” Jay said again, gaining more confidence, “So it seems to me like he had every reason to, if that’s your reaction—‘I should have done worse’? What were you gonna do? _Kill_ him?” Alex remained silent, but the cold stare in Jay’s direction sent a chill through him. Oh, god. He _would_ have killed Tim—“I’m taking him to the hospital,” Jay said, and Alex sidestepped in front of him, blocking his path. “No you’re not.” Jay tried to push past, but it was like playing chicken with the Great Wall Of China. It wasn’t going to happen.

     Jay took a deep breath. “Yes, I am. I don’t care that he’s some masked creep that _“used”_ to be Tim that was lurking around in my house, you just broke his leg—” Alex snorted. “I was able to figure out what hotel you were at, and what _room_ you were at, and then get a package delivered to your door. You’re not exactly hard to find.” He gestured to the unconscious man. “But you saw yourself that he’s dangerous. You’re going to bring your own stalker to the hospital?” He shook his head, a condescending laugh flitting about his face. “Whatever. It’s your funeral.”

     Jay groaned in frustration. “Would you at _least_ help me get him to my car?” Alex walked towards the door. “No way. You’re on your own.” Jay moved over to Tim and struggled to lift him up, even a little ways. Tim moved about a good half inch before Jay had to set him down. Alex scowled, but he came and lifted Tim’s legs up and Jay lifted Tim’s body up and together they managed to get him sprawled out on the back seat. “I know I can’t stop you from being an idiot,” Alex said, walking away to his own car, “But if you decide to be _sensible_ for once, you’ll lay low, and if you’re not with that creep in a week and decide you _really do_ need my help, just upload one of your videos to your YouTube channel. I know how to find you.” With that, Alex slammed his car door shut and drove off.

     Jay sighed, running his hands through his hair. After a solid minute of trying to sort out _what on earth just happened,_ and coming to absolutely _no_ good conclusions, he looked at Tim and decided that position could _not_ be comfortable. Even unconscious it probably hurt. Jay propped Tim up and buckled his seatbelt and closed the car door. He was about to get in the car, but… Jay suddenly ran back inside the building and slowed as he reached the spot where Tim had been pinned. Actually, come to think of it, bringing a tied-up man to a hospital probably wasn’t the best idea. Jay supposed he’d have to untie him. But… Jay carefully picked up the mask and examined it. He brought it back to the car with him, and opened the door again to untie Tim.

 

* * *

 

     Jay sat uncomfortably on a worn-out chair in the waiting room. He looked up as a nurse came out to greet him. “Alex, right?” Jay hesitated, then nodded. When the nurses asked who he was, he had told them his name was Alex Kralie. If they needed somebody to bill, they could bill the man responsible. Hmph. “Your friend there had quite the fracture, and it’s definitely going to be sore for a while,” she said, “But we’ve got it in a cast now. He needs to take one of _these—”_ she showed Jay a bottle—“Every four hours because of the type of break it was. They’re pain meds. Is he on any prescription drugs?” Jay sputtered. “I’m… I’m not sure.” The nurse just sighed. Jay got the feeling she dealt with that a lot. “They won’t react to anything that’s—” She said a few words Jay couldn’t understand and when she noticed the blank look on his face, she smiled and just said, “I’ll write it down.”

     After he had got the drugged-up (and honestly, still not really conscious) Tim into the car, he seemed to regain his consciousness a little. Tim was gazing unfocused at the back of the front seat. Then suddenly, his hands were on his face, and then he was flailing wildly and grabbing at the door. “No, hey, no, your leg just got broken, you can’t—” Jay was now also flailing wildly in an attempt to keep Tim from hurting himself. “Wait, I have your—I have your mask—” Tim stopped flailing with his hands clutching at Jay’s sweatshirt, giving him a blank stare. “It’s, it’s—hang on—” He managed to open the passenger door with Tim’s hands still firmly attached to his person, and handed him the mask.

     If Alex was right about anything, that definitely wasn’t Tim anymore. Tim quickly put the mask on and gave a somehow even blanker stare to Jay—and while unnerving, it was somehow… a lot more fitting. “Right, okay, so do you have a house or…” Jay trailed off as he realized that he was talking to somebody who was passed out and not able to answer. Oh. The meds had kicked in. “I guess we’re going back to the hotel room,” Jay muttered to himself, and also the camera, and set it on the dash as he closed the doors and drove away.

 

* * *

 

            So, that explained _that._ Jay yawned, and he realized he’d been up quite a while trying to figure out what had happened. He still didn’t really remember, but now he had the memories of watching the tapes, at the very least. His own memories from third person view. Right. Jay quietly shut the laptop down and closed its lid, ready to just lay down right in the clothes he had on—before realizing when he turned around that the bed was _already occupied._ He had literally _just_ watched hours worth of tapes to understand why, and yet… Jay sighed. There was always that oversized chair in the corner. Curling up in said chair, Jay made sure there was a fresh tape in his camera, and, despite the stranger in his hotel room, quickly fell asleep.


	2. Aftershock

            Jay rolled over in a half asleep stupor, clutching at the blankets he had practically thrown off the bed. His groggy mind registered that something was _off_ about that, but that was probably only because he had stayed up so late and didn’t remember going to bed. Wait—yes, he did, but he didn’t sleep in the _bed_ because it was _occupied—_ Jay wished he could say he bolted upright at that thought, but he was still way too comfortable for that. He sat up slowly, blinking, and looked around the room. _“Oh,”_ he sputtered in surprise as his eyes landed on the masked man crouching on the top of the TV stand/dresser combo. “I—you—” About five different thoughts went through his mind at once. First of all, that the masked man himself had probably put Jay to bed like a toddler that fell asleep on a road trip, which was slightly embarrassing among other things. But also…

            Jay frowned. “You shouldn’t be putting weight on that,” he said, gesturing to the blue cast on the man’s right leg. He merely shifted to his left a bit in response. Which was… _better,_ Jay supposed, although still probably not the best for it. “Uh…” Jay began, but really, this sort of situation was so _bizarre_ he didn’t know _how_ to react. “You have… pain meds you’re supposed to take…” He added lamely. The man held up a bottle of pills as a response and shook them. Oh. “The—the nurse said they might interfere with other meds?” The man, (Tim, Jay kept having to remind himself,) merely turned the pill bottle to the label, tapped it, and then pocketed the bottle. He seemed to be _way_ more on top of things than Jay was. He must have gotten the memo and read the label when Jay was asleep. Which was… Jay looked over at the clock and realized with a start that he had slept a full eight hours. He couldn’t remember the last time had slept that long. Jay rubbed at his eyes a bit and rolled out of bed. “Okay,” he muttered.

            Jay set about his morning routine, which included booting up his laptop and checking his camera and brushing his teeth, and the masked gaze of Tim followed him everywhere he went. “Could you maybe get off the TV stand?” Jay asked. “Or at least… say _hi_ or something?” A silent stare was his only response. Jay sighed. “Alright. Fine. Sure.” Jay’s skin prickled knowing that he was being watched with everything he did, but contrary to what he himself had thought the night before and what Alex had said… Tim didn’t seem _dangerous._ Definitely creepy, though.

            Jay sighed. Okay, no, he couldn’t ignore the fact that the guy was definitely creeping him out. He’d say he wasn’t scared, but… he _was_ scared, he just wasn’t actually that… concerned, in that respect. Jay turned to the man again. “Get off the TV stand,” he commanded, and then realized that not only was he still on the TV stand he was _still crouching._ “And—stop crouching! You just had your _leg_ broken! It won’t heal like that,” he huffed. The masked man reluctantly slid off the TV stand in a manner akin to a cat. He was then standing, and—Jay realized Tim was shorter than he originally thought. Oh geez. And also _still putting weight on the broken leg goshDARNIT—_

“Stop—stop putting weight on that leg!” Jay yelled, flustered that the man simply Did Not Get the concept. “You need to lay on the bed and prop it up or something, it _just_ got broken.” The man tilted his head strangely at Jay, and then limped over and sat down on the bed. Which _still_ wasn’t propping it up or anything, but, he wasn’t putting weight on it any more and that was what really mattered. Mostly. “Yeah, that’s… better. _Thank_ you,” he said, sounding a bit exasperated but meaning it sincerely. “Look,” Jay began, “I—yeah, this is weird. Tim—” There was a blank stare. Jay felt his skin crawl a little. Alex—there was something wrong with Alex, but… he was _right._ This wasn’t Tim. It was just… somebody else, in Tim’s body. “Are you… _Not_ Tim?” Jay asked, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when the man nodded. Oh. _Oh._

            “D-do you, uh… have a name, then?” Jay managed to stutter out, and again a blank stare was all that met him. Jay did have to admit, though, it was… _easier_ with the mask on. The blank stare wasn’t _really_ on Tim’s face, then, and Jay could tell it wasn’t Tim. “I guess we should come up with something to call you, then… I mean, unless you’re okay with me saying ‘Not Tim’ but that’d get kinda weird…” Jay prattled on nervously and the person who was Not Tim (but in Tim’s body) tilted his head and looked at Jay through a sideways world. What a peculiar man. “Well, you’ve got the mask, I mean, I guess I could call you… Mask…y?” The man on the bed started shaking, and for a moment Jay was worried he was having some sort of seizure—and then he realized the man was _laughing_ at him. His face flushed. “Right, well, just a suggestion,” he huffed, embarrassed.

            The masked man flopped back on the bed still shaking a little, and Jay stood there for a few seconds internally stewing and more embarrassed over the name than he cared to admit. “I guess along those lines, we could probably call you ‘Casty’, too,” he finally said, but he realized it probably wasn’t as funny as he thought if you were the one in the cast when he was met with a cold, harsh glare. Even though he couldn’t see the man’s eyes, he could tell it was a glare. He coughed softly. “Sorry,” he muttered. The masked man resumed staring a hole into Jay’s skull, and absently picked at the little fibers on the edge of his cast. But his stare never changed.

     “We can worry about a name later I guess,” Jay finally said, and sat down in the chair he had fallen asleep in last night, trying to think of what to do next. Speaking of… “Hey, by the way. It was nice of you to move me and all but you really should be the one in the bed.” The staring intensified, it that was even possible. “You—you have a cast on your leg—you had your leg _broken!_ Or—fractured, whatever—You need to rest it,” Jay said defensively. The man looked at his cast. And while that might seem like an admission of guilt, it read more like—and probably was—more of a “whatever.”

     At that point the masked man decided to stop doing anything that would hinder his health or Jay’s, but he started staring at Jay again. Which was fine, honestly, it wasn’t like he was _doing_ anything, but it was _really_ quiet in the hotel room, so quiet you could hear the camera working, and the masked man just kept staring. God, okay, that was starting to get really—awkward, or unnerving, or _something._ Jay felt twitchy all over by just sitting there, not doing anything. He thought he might have actually preferred if he could scold the man again for doing something wrong with his leg.

     “Look,” Jay said, standing up and sort of pacing, “I know that this whole deal with—with that _thing—”_ He saw the masked man stiffen— “Is probably, uh, well. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really know what’s going on. I’m not sure I ever knew, actually, just sort of… pretended to, or tried to—but still. You’re hurt and you’re probably scared, and I’m scared too, so maybe, if we could please just… work together on this or something? Please?" He waited anxiously for a response, even though he wasn't sure he'd be able to know if he got one.

     Jay stared at the man, fidgeting in place, and the man with his ever-relentless gaze stared back. There was a pause, for what felt like a very long time, and then the man who was Not Tim gave a very slow, purposeful nod. Jay sighed out in relief a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Jay smiled gratefully. “Thank you,” he said, and the man tilted his head. Jay couldn’t be sure, but he thought that he could almost _see_ the man, despite the mask, smile.


	3. Roommates

            Jay was thinking. Not unusual for him, though Alex might beg to differ, but it was Alex that had Jay worried. Jay glanced over at the masked man sitting against the wall and looking uncomfortable having to sit like a normal human being. Were he anybody else, Jay would have discussed the matter with him. But the matter at hand was a risk to the man, and Jay didn’t want to shake their newly formed… alliance. “ _If you’re not with that creep in a week and decide you_ really do _need my help, just upload one of your videos to your YouTube channel. I know how to find you.”_ That’s what Alex had said. (Jay knew, because he went and watched the tape over and over and over.)

            On the one hand, the masked man was dangerous. He had gone after Alex. But on the other hand, Alex was dangerous too. He might have killed Tim—well, “Not Tim”—if he had been given the chance. Jay was at a loss. His thoughts drifted back to finding himself in the bed despite the health of the man who had set him down there. A smile ghosted across Jay’s face. Okay, so technically both of them were dangerous, but at least the masked man was _nice_ and not Mr. “Leave the person with the broken leg in the middle of nowhere” like Alex. Jay frowned. Hmm.

            “Hey, uh…” He turned to Not Tim and the man tilted his head. Jay’s train of thought derailed as he realized Not Tim still didn’t have a name. “Can I… find something to call you?” The man stared. It read rather like a “do whatever you want” stare, so Jay turned back to his laptop and opened Google. Since he didn’t really know what else to do, Jay typed in “name that means masked” and clicked on the first link. “How does ‘Ammon’ sound?” Jay asked about the first result, and the man tilted his head upwards and then sideways and shrugged. Jay sighed. _Not Tim is Ammon,_ he mentally recited a few times, then, when he was satisfied with that, remembered he was supposed to be asking something a bit more important.

            “So… Ammon,” Jay said, spinning fully around, and the man breathed a visible sigh. Jay vaguely realized he was getting better at reading the man, and that perked him up a bit, but he remembered what the topic that needed to be discussed was and that sent his mood back down. Jay sighed. “We need to talk about Alex.” The masked man stiffened. “I don’t agree with what he did,” Jay added quickly, “Although I mean I would think the cast on your leg proves that,” he mumbled as an afterthought. “But he… he said that he knows how to find me, I mean I don’t _remember_ it but I was watching the tapes and—”

            Not Tim—Ammon—was suddenly standing up off the bed at the mention of tapes, and he limped surprisingly quickly over to Jay. “Uhhh…” Jay stuttered, admittedly intimidated and a bit nervous despite their alliance, but when Ammon was next to him he simply tapped the laptop. Jay breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh. Right.” He quickly pulled up the footage on his laptop and skipped to the part where they had put Ammon in the car. Jay couldn’t be sure, but the man seemed rather amused at how much Jay was evidently struggling to lift him, and Jay let out a small huff of embarrassment.

            _“I know I can’t stop you from being an idiot,” Alex said, walking away to his own car, “But if you decide to be_ sensible _for once, you’ll lay low, and if you’re not with that creep in a week and decide you_ really do _need my help, just upload one of your videos to your YouTube channel. I know how to find you.”_

            Ammon turned his masked face to Jay and tilted his head, giving Jay a rather intense stare. Jay’s skin prickled. It was a lot creepier when the man was _right next_ to him. Jay shrugged and kind of flailed his arms helplessly. “I… I think if we want to figure out what’s all going on with this we need to find Alex, I mean, that was my initial plan, but, _clearly_ he’s, well, y’know—” Ammon paused for a moment, then shuffled away, making a strange noise that was both deep and flat and breathy behind his mask. Jay realized it was a hum. Not Tim— _Ammon,_ Jay reminded himself—found the paper pad and pen that hotels and motels usually left out. He scribbled something and held it up. Jay squinted at it for a moment. The man had the handwriting of a rushed doctor. “Condescending,” it read.

            Jay barked out a laugh. “You got that right.” Ammon nodded knowingly. Jay paused. “What do… _you_ think about this?” The man simply stood and stared. Jay needed to elaborate. “I uh, I mean… about… if finding Alex is the right thing to do,” Jay ended up mumbling. “It’s… stupid, it’s been years, I should’ve just left things alone—but it’s too late for that now—but I think Alex might find me either way…” The masked man leaned up against the TV stand, taking some weight off his broken leg. He simply stared at Jay for a long while, and Jay could just barely see narrowed eyes behind the eyeholes of his mask. Jay didn’t say anything else, as much as he wanted to. He could tell Ammon was trying to piece things together.

            Finally, Ammon limped back over to Jay. He rather towered over Jay since the taller man was sitting down. “Well, did you think of something?” Ammon shouldered Jay out of the way and started messing about on the laptop. Jay stayed leaning awkwardly sideways until Ammon was satisfied with whatever he was doing. The audio from the tape played. “… _just upload one of your videos to your YouTube channel—”_ Ammon quickly paused the tape, and waited patiently for Jay to understand. Jay paused, frowning. “Oh. _Ohhhh._ ” Ammon leaned back smugly. Despite himself, Jay smirked a little. For once, it felt like he had the upper hand. “Alright,” He said, nodding, determined. “We’re going to trick Alex.”


	4. Entry #27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entries that correspond to this "Entry #27" are Entry #34, #35, and #36, respectively; however, it is not a direct correlation, due to the changes made. (See chapter one for all the changes.)

The video was uploaded on Saturday, April 24th.

Entry #27

            The video started out with Jay driving. “Alright, it is Wednesday April 21st 2010\. Uh, it’s 3:56 PM,” Jay noted. “Right now I am on my way to the return address here that was on the package that was outside my door a couple of days ago. I’ve more or less been driving nonstop since I got the package and watched the tape that was in it,” Jay explained to the camera and the audience. “I _think_ I’m getting fairly close to the address—the return address—probably I’d say about fifteen or twenty minutes away.” Jay took a breath. “So, it’s looking a little rainy, and—” Jay turned to adjust the camera. “I don’t know why I’m still talking,” he mumbled.

            The next scene was a solid two minutes of Jay wandering around a small abandoned building, kicking things around. He checked the outside, too. There was a slight jump, indicating the switching of tapes. Jay went back inside. “Hello?” Jay called half-heartedly, clearly irritated. _“Ughhh,”_ he groaned in annoyance, kicking some more things around more violently than before. “There’s nothing here!” Jay fumed. He let out an exasperated sigh. “What are you wanting me to see?” He muttered. “I’m not _seeing_ anything!” There was a sound.

            “Jay?” Jay spun around, and saw Alex in the doorway. Then came the scene that Jay himself had reviewed just a few days earlier, showing what happened with the masked man, the reveal that it was Tim, and Alex breaking Tim's leg. (Jay cut out the footage of himself using Alex's name to try and get Alex to pay for the cast; he didn't need that working against him.) He did however show himself trying to get the masked man into the car after having his leg fixed up. The screen cut to black.

            Jay was sitting in what appeared to be a desk chair, and in the background you could just barely see the dreary bed and curtains of a hotel room. His eyes were downcast, tired, and he looked sadly up at the camera. Jay sighed deeply. “As much as I hate to admit it,” Jay started, “Alex was right. I… had Tim—well, the person who _‘used to be Tim’_ as Alex said, in my hotel room with me, and it was fine for about a day, but then—”  Jay let out a soft groan. “He attacked me.”

     Jay’s eyes drifted off to the side and he pursed his lips. “Alex said he was dangerous, and that he was, and I didn’t believe him, but… he was right. I managed to—to shove him off me and make sure he didn’t grab my camera, and then he just sort of—” Jay made a wild gesture with his arms. “—Ran off into the night. I dunno. I don’t—I don’t know where he went or where he is now, but I’m guessing I’ll have to change hotel rooms now that he knows where I am.” Jay ran his hands over his face. “So I guess this is me admitting I was wrong or whatever, and I ‘really do’ need Alex’s help. So, Alex, if you know how to find me—” The man shrugged helplessly. “Please.” The entry ended.

 

* * *

 

            Jay sighed as he shut off the camera. He looked up. “Now can you _please_ stop crouching on the desk? You’re gonna hurt your leg more,” Jay pouted a bit. The masked man, or “Ammon” as Jay had been calling him, reluctantly shuffled. He had insisted for some reason on being directly behind the camera; Jay supposed that it was due to having zero risk factor for being seen. Ammon had been crouching on his good leg and sticking his other leg straight out to the side; he now did a very odd crabwalk over to the side of the desk before sliding off.

     The man limped quickly over to the bed and sat down, sticking his casted leg out; and giving Jay a fairly defiant stare. Jay sighed and pursed his lips, trying not to roll his eyes. “I guess now all that’s left to do is wait for Alex,” Jay said, attempting not to sound too disheartened at having to rely on Alex’s moves next. In the mean time, he and Not Tim were going to plan a strategy to see how they could best go about making their next move when Alex showed up. He uploaded the entry, and put a new tape in the camera. Jay sighed again and rubbed his tired eyelids. Ammon with his ever-present stare tilted his head. He gestured to the bed. Jay frowned a bit.

     “We’ve been over this,” Jay muttered, but the “tone” of the stare—was that even possible?—was different and it dawned on Jay. He yawned. “Oh, right, you just meant sleep. Yeah, that’s—” Jay shuffled a bit in his chair. “That’s a good idea.” Setting up the camera so that it was facing both the bed and the armchair in which Jay was planning on sleeping, Jay did his usual nighttime routine, turned the lights off, and flopped down in the chair with a pillow and spare blanket. He thought about the man in the bed and gave a thoughtful hum. “Well,” Jay said with a slight yawn, “Goodnight.” The ever-present stare of the mask turned itself to the camera.


	5. Breakfast Plans

            Jay woke up with a crick in his neck at an ungodly hour of the morning. “Ughhhh.” He groaned after looking at the clock. Well, okay, _technically_ it was a regular hour of the morning. Seven forty-ish to be precise. Ammon was already awake, sprawled out on the bed and looking either bored or tired. The mask made it hard to judge. But seven AM meant… “Hey,” Jay said to Ammon as he sat up out of the chair and stretched. Ammon turned his head to look at Jay. “Seven AM in a hotel means free breakfast.” Ammon propped himself up. “I almost forgot,” Jay said, fidgeting a bit at how _stupid_ it was to forget such an important thing, “But there’s, uh, crutches the hospital lent us in the car. I could go get them, and then you could take off your mask and come eat breakfast with m—”

            Ammon was shaking his head. Jay frowned. “Well, you, you can’t just go down there with your _mask_ on! I mean, it’s fine around _me_ but around other people it might… not…” Jay trailed off at the look Ammon was giving him and sighed. “Okay, I guess I’ll just, go get breakfast and carry it up here for us,” he muttered, and started towards the door. He did an awkward half-shuffle as he realized he hadn’t asked what Ammon wanted. “Uhh, do you want cereal, or pancakes, or, if they have juice what sort of juice do you want?” Ammon just waved his hand in a “whatever” gesture. Jay sighed again. “Alright,” He said, and went out of the room.

 

* * *

 

            Jay stared at the door of the hotel room. Somehow, he had managed to balance three plates of food while holding his camera _and_ not getting bothered by any other hotel patrons, but now that he was _here,_ well. “How am I… gonna get this open?” Jay said, just sort of standing there dumbly and staring at the door. Jay looked left, and then right. He sighed, and set a plate holding three drinks holding a plate of food on the ground. He then shuffled awkwardly holding the other plate and his camera in his right hand while he tried to get out his wallet and room card with just his left. _Finally,_ Jay managed to open the door, and he stuck his foot in and leaned back to pick up the other two plates, all while trying not to drop the plate (and camera) he was already holding. Jay managed to wriggle through the door a solid two minutes after he arrived.

            “Getting through the door was the hardest part,” Jay grumbled to Ammon, “And thankfully nobody tried to stop me with all these plates…” Ammon was giggling silently at the image of the man shuffling through the door and holding so many things. Grimacing, Jay gingerly set the plates down on the desk where his laptop set. “You couldn’t have at least held the door open for me?” He sighed. Ammon tilted his head and made a waving gesture towards his broken leg. “Oh. Right.” Ammon tilted his head again in what Jay _swore_ was a smirk. Jay rolled his eyes.

            “Okay, well, anyways, the coffee is mine, but I got you some orange juice, and I got two bowls of cereal here and there’s a cup of milk for those, as well as some spoons,” Jay took a breath before continuing. “And on this plate I have pancakes I guess, because frankly the bacon looks like absolute garbage. Like, it might-as-well-have-been-tire-strips garbage. I only grabbed one fork though.” Jay hesitated, fidgeting. His camera was aimed at his masked companion. Ammon shrugged and made a “bring it here” motion with his hands. Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. “Breakfast in bed I guess then,” He mumbled.

            “Pancake or cereal?” He asked, and Ammon snatched an entire pancake off the plate. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at the camera, and then tilted his mask to the side. Jay froze for a moment at seeing _Tim’s_ face on his new ally. It was… weird, seeing his face like that. He was very _human_ in that moment. And then, of course, he started eating the pancake with his hands. “I guess that solves the problem of who gets the fork,” Jay said, raising his eyebrows and slowly turning away. “I’ll, just… eat the other pancake, I guess,” he mumbled, wandering back over to the desk awkwardly. They ate in silence, although that wasn’t unusual. Despite himself, Jay kept glancing back at the now slightly unmasked man, marveling over the fact that he really did have a human face. It was _weird._

            Jay ended up eating a bowl of cereal and Ammon had a dry bowl himself, and then Jay went to the car and retrieved the crutches for his friend. Jay couldn’t shake how strange it was to see Tim’s face on Ammon, though. Sure, it had been just as weird seeing the mask on _Tim_ as it was seeing _Tim’s_ face on the usually masked man, but… Jay shook his head. Whatever. He had more important things to think about. “So, now that we’ve, eaten breakfast or whatever,” Jay started as he leaned the crutches against the bed, “We should probably talk about what we’re gonna do when Alex _does_ get here, huh.”

            Ammon made a fist and punched his other, open, hand. _“No,”_ Jay said immediately, “No, no. We can’t just—we can’t just trick him and then try to fight him immediately. We wouldn’t learn anything!” Ammon’s gaze bored a hole in Jay’s skull. Jay huffed a sigh of exasperation as he sat on the edge of the bed near his companion’s stretched out leg. Ammon lowered his hands, but, Jay couldn't help but notice, kept his shoulders tense. “Yeah, I know he's not exactly your favorite person in the world, but he _did_ send me that tape—” Ammon tilted his head in piqued attention at the mention of the tape “—And it sure seemed from that like he needed my help or something,” Jay went on as he tried to recall the contents of the tape in question himself. Almost on cue Ammon shuffled awkwardly to get off the bed “What are you...?” Jay sprang to his feet as well, “Woah!” He was just in time it seemed, as Ammon stumbled over his casted leg and reached out to grab for Jay.

           Bracing himself against the bed so his own legs wouldn't give out, Jay managed to catch the masked man rather awkwardly in his arms, letting out a small “Oof!” from the impact. Ammon had also grabbed ahold of Jay's hoodie in the fall and had not let go. After a brief moment of catching his breath, Ammon looked up at Jay, eyes wide with shock. “H-hey, are you ok?” Jay could feel his face starting to warm up, and that now all too familiar feeling in the back of his mind. Why did he feel like this whenever he looked at Ammon's...( _Tim's?_ ) face? This time, though, Jay could swear he could see a flicker of _something_ in those dark eyes behind the expressionless mask the other man wore. Ammon jerked his head away and started trying to pull himself up using his grip on Jay's hoodie as leverage, nearly pulling Jay down to the floor. “Wait! Stop!” Jay struggled to heave the other man back up and over to sit on the bed.

            “You need to use your crutches if you want to walk,” Jay sat back down next to Ammon and pointed out the crutches he had just gotten from his car, “What was so important anyway? You almost took me out when I was trying to help.”  Ammon glanced at Jay apologetically “You're welcome, by the way,” Jay sighed, not that he was expecting a 'thank you' from his silent ally. What he _really_ wasn't expecting was for Ammon to lean in and lay his head on Jay's shoulder briefly (was that meant to be a 'thank you?') before getting up and reaching for the crutches. “Hey, how about you don't right now?” Jay started, Ammon stopped his awkward attempt at using the crutches to stare at Jay, “I-if you're looking for the tape Alex sent me...” Ammon nodded slowly, “It's really not going to help us figure out what to do when he decides to come here, so, just, please, sit back down and help me figure this out.” Jay's tone was almost pleading at this point, which elicited a muffled sigh from underneath Ammon's mask and the man hopped on his good leg back to the bed. “Ok, good, so—aah!” Jay's speech was interrupted by Ammon flopping into bed and getting his leg back into its former position atop a stack of two pillows—something Jay insisted upon.

            “So, as far as Alex knows, or, at least, _as far as we know Alex knows,_ it's just me here, so when he decides to call me or meet me or whatever it is he wants to do, we have to have a plan to keep it that way.” Ammon stared at Jay. (To be fair, he did that a lot, but there was an accusatory tone in this one.) "You're going to have to hide in the bathroom or something when he comes over, and I guess I'll...  ask about what all went down on the tape with _his_ _girlfriend_ , or something." Ammon tilted his head in a bemused manner. “What?” Jay sputtered. “I mean—they were together in _college,_ and now they’re _clearly_ living together—” He stopped talking when he realized Ammon was making a muffled wheezing sound and laughing at him.

             Ammon took the paper pad and pen, and flipped to a new page that wasn’t covered in doodles. “Jealous”, he wrote. Jay flushed a little. Flustered, he attempted to defend himself. “I’m not—” He huffed as Ammon held up another word. “Focus”. Jay scoffed a bit and crossed his arms, but Ammon was right. “Fine. Yeah. Okay.” Jay took a breath. “You’re going to have to hide in the bathroom. I’ll ask Alex what happened. Get more details or whatever. And…” Jay sighed, running his hand through his hair. “If he decides to actually _tell_ me anything… we’ll use that information and compare it with what we _know,_ and go from there. I guess.” He looked at Ammon helplessly. “Does that sound good to you?” Ammon stared at Jay for a moment, then nodded slowly.

            Jay let out a relieved sigh. “I’m glad we got that over with, then. I guess until then we…” He glanced awkwardly towards the window. “ _Still_ have to wait, but, you know, I feel a lot more prepared now. Or at least, as prepared as we can be, I guess.” Jay paced back and forth along the edge of the bed for a minute as Ammon’s stare continued to bore a hole in his skull. “And now I guess, _more waiting. Ugh.”_ Jay huffed again, getting a bit frustrated with the predicament. “Well, at least we have each other now, it feels a little less hopeless having a… partner in all this.” Ammon tilted his head up in what Jay took to be a small smile, and he rolled his eyes. Now that their hunger, and planning, was out of the way, the rest was up to Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than the other rapid-fire chapters we uploaded; we were working out plans and timelines. 
> 
> I (YourCoolBroKat) tend to do most of the writing for the fic.  
> MaskyIsNotAProxy is the -super- script supervisor. (And they wrote a few paragraphs in this chapter!)


	6. Communication

            There was a loud, impatient rapping on the door. Exchanging a glance, Ammon took his crutches and quickly went over to hide in the bathroom, and Jay snatched up his camera and put his hat on. _Knockknockknockknockknock!_ “I’m _coming!”_ Jay said, and went and unlocked the hotel door. “Geez,” He muttered under his breath. It had been three days since he had uploaded the entry asking for Alex’s help. Ammon and Jay had spent the two days waiting for Alex working on their communication skills and practicing with the crutches. There had been a lot of scolding from Jay when Ammon pushed himself too far too fast, and a lot of Looks from Ammon in return. He opened the door to see Alex, standing there looking impatient, with his arms crossed. “Hey Alex,” Jay said rather passively. “Hi, Jay.” Alex responded. “Come outside,” He said, taking a step away from the door. “Let’s talk about some things.”

            “Um, alright,” Jay said nervously, carefully closing the door behind him. Jay followed Alex in stifling silence until they were out of the hall and out of the hotel. “It’s interesting,” Alex said, pacing away into the parking lot, “But as I was getting my mail the other day I noticed there was a _bill_ in there. For a _cast.”_ Alex stopped walking and stared pointedly at Jay. “You _are_ the one who broke his leg,” Jay muttered, and Alex scoffed. “Whatever. Looks like it was all for nothing anyways though, since he attacked you and left.” Alex paused for a second, looking around suspiciously. “And you’re sure he left.”

            “Yeah, totally,” Jay said quickly. “Listen, Alex, I wanted to talk to you about the tape you sent me—” Alex interrupted him. “You mean the one with Amy on it.” Jay swallowed nervously. “Yeah. What was—what happened, anyways? I mean, after the tape ended.” Alex gave Jay a peculiar glance. “We jumped out of one of the higher windows in the house to escape.”  Jay shuffled his feet a bit. “Oh. And then what happened?” Alex shook his head. “And then, I don’t remember anything else. The next thing I knew I was waking up in my apartment.” Jay shuffled a bit more. “Oh,” He mumbled. _I guess that means they weren’t_ living together, _though,_ he thought. The image of Ammon holding up the paper that said “Jealous” popped into Jay’s head. But, well, he _did_ tell Jay to focus right after that.

             “Do you, uh, have any clues as to where she could be, then…?” Jay asked, trying to reassert himself into the conversation. Alex looked at him blankly and then shook his head. “No. If I _knew_ that I wouldn’t have asked for _your_ help now would I have?” Jay huffed in response. He was starting to find it hard to see why he had ever had a crush on the guy. Then again… A thought struck Jay. Alex had told Jay that “that [wasn’t] Tim anymore”, and, from what Jay had seen so far, Tim was probably exposed to… whatever that _thing_ was _way_ less than Alex. And Alex, the more he saw of it, the less like himself he acted. Jay realized he was going to have to throw away any past notions he had of Alex and recognize he was dealing with a completely different person.

             “So…” Jay began again hesitantly. “How do you plan on finding Amy then?” Alex, however, wasn’t looking at Jay. He narrowed his eyes at the window approximate to where Jay’s room was, and turned back to Jay. “Didn’t you say you were going to change hotels? Since that creep _attacked_ you?” Alex asked coolly. Jay coughed lightly, taken aback. “What? Well, yeah, but, I wanted to wait for you to answer me and find me, I mean, no use in making things more difficult…” He trailed off. Alex had his eyes narrowed. “Well, it’s a pretty stupid move. Don’t do it again.”

             “Alright,” Jay said, shrugging his shoulders and shoving his free hand in his pocket. “Geez.” Alex just shook his head again. “So what I said about how you plan on finding Amy—” Alex interrupted Jay before he could finish his sentence. “I don’t want to discuss that _here_ with the possibility of that masked creep _spying_ on us thanks to your choice to stay put,” He said rather forcefully. “But—” Jay started. “I’ll call you.” Alex said, walking towards his car. “I’ve got your number.”

            “Okay!” Jay said, throwing his hand out of his pocket and into the air. “Fine. Fine! Yeah, sounds great.” He half expected Alex to turn around and retort—have the last word or something—but he simply got in his car and drove off.  Jay audibly sighed and walked back into the hotel, through the hall, and unlocked the door to his room. Ammon was leaning against the doorframe with his crutches, putting all his weight on his good foot. Jay jolted a bit in surprise when he saw Ammon like that. _“Please_ tell me you’ve only been there since you heard me unlock the door,” Jay said. He really, _really_ didn’t need Alex to have seen Ammon through his brief glance at the window. Jay only received a silent stare in return.

            He set the camera down on the TV stand and sat on the edge of the bed. Ammon’s gaze, naturally, followed him. “So…” Jay began, “Alex said Amy—the girl in the tape—is missing, and he woke up in his apartment and doesn’t remember anything.” Ammon tilted his head. “He also said that I hadn’t relocated yet, so he didn’t want to discuss it around _here_ where somebody could be watching.” Jay spared a glance back at Ammon. He could tell by Ammon’s mannerisms that he was meant to continue. “So, I’m going to upload what I have of talking with Alex, edit out everything else, and…” He sighed. “Let the viewers know we’re waiting on him, I guess.” Jay looked pointedly up at Ammon. “Then we have to change hotels, or Alex won’t contact us.”

            Ammon’s stare became incredibly accusatory. Jay could only imagine he was narrowing his eyes. “I _know_ how you feel about Alex—you have every right to—but this is the only way to get information! We’re _tricking_ him, remember?” Ammon crutch-walked to the bed and flopped down on it, not seeming to care that the flail of his legs nearly knocked Jay in the head. “Hey…” Jay muttered. Ammon was ignoring him. Jay stared at the wall for a bit, the whir of the camera and creaks of various hotel things the only noise. “I mean, you technically don’t _have_ to come with me,” Jay mumbled. “With your cast and our partnership or whatever I thought it’d be easier, but you probably—well, Tim technically—probably have a house somewhere and a car. You _could_ just go home if you wanted.” He kept his voice quiet. Jay hesitated to say it, but it was the truth. He also hesitated to admit how much better he felt having a partner, albeit a silent one. It was nice having Ammon around. But if Ammon didn’t want to stick with him because Jay was “teaming up” with Alex, well, Jay didn’t blame him.

            Jay turned around as he felt the bed shift. Ammon was sitting up, arms crossed, positively _glaring_ at him. With a sudden jolt of panic Jay realized that what he said could have been misinterpreted as him _wanting_ Ammon gone—Jay opened his mouth to defend himself, sputtering, but it turned out, he didn’t need to. Ammon simply shifted himself around so his back was to Jay’s, and was leaning up against Jay. “—Oh,” Jay mumbled, face flushing a bit. “Thanks for sticking with me,” he offered after a bit. He was met with the usual silence. But it was a friendly silence. They sat like that for a long time.

            Entry #28 was uploaded on Tuesday April 27th, 2010, around nine pm. The footage shown in the entry only included from Jay opening the door to Alex driving away—as far as accidentally catching Ammon on camera and spoiling the whole plan, no chances were taken. Tomorrow, they were going to go—together—to a new hotel, and wait for Alex again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This "Entry #28" doesn't actually have a corresponding counterpart from the actual entries.


	7. Visitor

            Last night, before they had gone to bed, Jay went to sleep in the chair in the corner as usual and Ammon had stopped him, and gestured towards the bed. “No,” Jay had said, frustrated, “You have a cast— _you_ get the bed.” Ammon had glared at Jay, and then went over to the bed and waved his arm in a chopping motion in the middle of the bed, then in a wide gesture. Jay had stared, considering. True, the bed _was_ big enough to share as long as they kept to their own sides… And the chair _was_ giving him an awful crick in his neck—Jay huffed a little, embarrassed. “Alright, fine, we can… _share_ the bed. But we’re keeping to our own sides, okay?” Ammon hadn’t replied, merely turned and crutch-walked away, claiming the side of the bed closest to the window. Well, that was fine with Jay. So he had agreed to share the bed, and had gone to sleep facing the wall and his camera, and away from Ammon.

            Except now, Jay was awake, and he was _definitely_ not facing the wall. Squinting and barely able to make out shapes in the dim light, Jay became aware of both the sound and feeling of the rise and fall of Ammon’s chest as he breathed. He then became aware of the profile of Ammon’s face. True, it was also _Tim’s_ face, but for the time being, it was Ammon’s. Eyes closed, mask off, he looked… peaceful, and calm. Jay could feel him breathing. He also decided right there to reroute his thoughts, and became aware of why he himself was so calm, and warm, and peaceful. There was a… pressure, around him. Face flushing all at once, Jay realized that _he had his arms around Ammon,_ and that Ammon had his arms around Jay in turn.

            Jay wriggled a bit, _quite_ unused to being in such close proximity to others. There was no _way_ this had been an accident—although it might have been subconscious, Jay realized, because Jay himself was the one who had turned himself around. Blearily, looking at Ammon/Tim’s face and—wait, was he _snoring?_ Jay listened for a bit longer and, yes, Ammon was snoring ever so slightly. Jay rolled his eyes. But he looked at Ammon and with a jolt realized something. He was… _comfortable._ Not just physically warm-and-cozy or anything; he felt comfortable and _safe_ with the man who had very recently been _stalking_ him. He couldn’t remember feeling that comfortable around anyone since he had hung around with Alex in college—and even then, it might not have been at the same level. Jay wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that. But it _was_ late and—wow he could definitely stand to sleep longer. Looking at Ammon’s features in the dim light and listening to the calm breathing (and snoring), Jay drifted back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

            The man wore a hoodie and carried a camera, much like his clueless counterpart. But unlike Jay, this man had a fair knowledge of what was going on, and what might happen. So when he had seen Jay leave with his masked friend, and take him to the _hospital_ of all places, well, he was surprised to say the least. He hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t predicted this. This was _different._ And the man in the hoodie wanted to have a word with the man in the mask about it.

            Right now, Totheark—for what was who the man in the hoodie was, of course, the youtube user who was constantly criticizing Jay—was outside the hotel room of that very man. He wanted answers, and he also wanted his partner to come back with him. Now that he had a proper cast, there should be nothing stopping him from rejoining Totheark. At least, that was Totheark’s line of thinking. He peered closely into the windows, seeing through the tiniest gap in the curtains that somebody was asleep in the bed. He tapped lightly on the glass.

            A figure slowly, carefully sat up. Totheark could tell by their stature that it was his masked companion, though he was currently not masked. He watched in relative amusement as the man seemed to _roll_ off the bed. He sat up and got up, grabbing and putting on his mask, and began shuffling towards the window, but hesitated. The masked man hobbled back a bit and grabbed _crutches_ to use. Totheark considered this. That didn’t _seem_ like something his masked companion would do. He stepped back from the window and pointed his camera toward the masked man, and gestured towards the door. The man walked over to the door, and Totheark silently slipped into the hotel. He walked down the hall and his camera zoomed in on crack in a door as it opened. Totheark stepped inside and the masked man stepped out of the way.

            Immediately, Totheark saw why the masked man had been using excessive caution when getting out of bed. _Jay,_ the other cameraman, was in it. Oh, this was _good._ Totheark zoomed in on the sleeping figure of Jay, who was reaching towards the side of the bed where the masked man had been. Heh. But there was plenty of blackmail and harassing to do later. Totheark turned to man on crutches and gestured towards the door. “Come on,” he seemed to say. “Let’s go.” The masked man did not move. He simply stared and tilted his head. Totheark _scowled_ behind the cloth that covered his face. What did he mean, _why?_ He had always followed TTA without questioning. What was different about now?

            Totheark crossed his arms. The masked man got the message. He tipped his head towards the direction of the bed. Ohhhh, _now_ Totheark got it. At least, he thought he did. Jay had fixed up the man’s wounds and given him food and a place to stay. Cute, but pathetic. Totheark gestured to the door again, this time a little more harshly. The masked man stared for a moment. Then, he walked back over towards the bed. _What is he_ doing? Totheark thought. He received his answer when the man abandoned his crutches in favor of _picking up the sleeping figure of Jay._ He walked back towards the door with the still-sleeping man in his arms. Geez, that guy was _out._ “Okay, _now_ I’m ready to go,” he seemed to say.

            Totheark mentally facepalmed. He opened his arms wide in a questioning gesture. His unspoken message was clear: “ _The hell is this?_ ” The masked man looked down at his sleeping companion, then back up. Totheark let out a gruff scoff. No, no, no, they were _not_ taking _that man_ with them. He threw his arm harshly towards the direction of the bed as if to say “ _put it back”._ The masked man obliged, and, when the man was securely back in the bed, somehow _still sleeping,_ he grabbed his crutches, hobbled over a bit, and—sat back down on the bed. _What._ Totheark stared at the man. The man stared back. It was the one thing they were both quite good at.

            Beneath his hood and clothed face Totheark rolled his eyes and sneered. He crossed his arms. They were really going to play _this_ game? The “have a temper tantrum and sit on the floor and pout if I don’t get to keep the poor lost puppy I found” game? Totheark spared one last glance at Jay, his camera following. _Fine, suit yourself,_ he thought, and implied with his gesture of shrugging and turning back towards the door. He headed through the hallway and back out into the night without so much as a glance behind him. Well, that was a lie—a man’s paranoia didn’t leave easy, after all—but he _mentally_ didn’t look back. Totheark did not plan on being held down by the masked man. He did, however, plan on making a video. _Several_ videos. This was going to be _interesting._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you happened to see this chapter up for a minute and then get deleted, that was due to a continuity error which MaskyIsNotAProxy thankfully caught! As well as this, chapter updates are probably not going to be /too/ frequent with plot planning and college things to work on.


	8. Secrets

            A video was uploaded to the YouTube channel “totheark” in the very early morning of Wednesday, April 28th, 2010. It was entitled “Secrets”.

            A low humming tone began playing, as the video changed from black. There was a slow-moving, filtered shot of trees. The dark image of what looked to be a hallway flickered in and out of focus.

I HAVE SEEN IT

            –Read the faint text in the background. The humming note grew louder and changed pitch. The scene changed to a shaking picture of Alex, his face drawn over with a crossed-out circle.

HAS HE?

            The video ended with a series of letters.

WTNWMFpTd2dZblYwSUhCaGRHaGxkR2xq


	9. Reminder

            Jay woke up and opened his eyes slowly. He sat up. It was still way too early, but he had an _awful,_ splitting headache, so he supposed that meant he’d slept long enough. Which reminded him… He looked around for Ammon. The man was sitting on the TV stand, legs dangling. Jay let out a semi-relieved sigh. Better than crouching. Or standing, he supposed. Ammon swung his legs slowly. Minding his headache and moving slowly, Jay groaned, and got out of bed. He noticed that Ammon’s stare felt slightly _guilty._ He definitely needed to have a talk with Ammon about what had happened last night. Accidentally cuddling with his partner in crime was… _awkward,_ to say the least. Jay let out a soft cough.

            In an effort to avoid Ammon’s gaze, his eyes drifted over to his camera. Still in a half-asleep stupor, he started mumbling to himself. “Gotta check…” Jay walked over to his laptop and started booting it up, since his nighttime recordings went straight to his hard drive. Jay decided to look at his phone while his laptop started up. Blearily, he blinked at the screen, then visibly started to wake up as he grew concerned. “My twitter followers are all telling me totheark uploaded a new video last night,” Jay muttered. “Something about a… secret.”

            Alarmed, he looked towards Ammon. “What if he knows? _How_ would he know? He doesn’t like Alex but does that really mean he wouldn’t tell him…?” Jay ran his hands through his hair anxiously as his laptop finished booting up and offered him an internet connection. Ammon remained still and quiet, and Jay watched the newest video. Jay took a deep breath to steady himself. “Okay… he doesn’t want Alex to know any more than we do.” He furrowed his eyebrows, worried. “…But he _does_ know somehow. That we’re planning on tricking Alex.”

            Jay coughed gently twice, trying to calm down. “I guess there’s… nothing I can do but watch last night’s footage and see if anything happened, and try to work things out from there,” he muttered. Ammon tilted his head from his place on the TV stand. Jay had a rising sense of panic, but he tried to push it down with logic. He would’ve woken up if something happened. _Ammon_ would have woken up if something happened. Jay glanced back over at Ammon again. Ammon gave him an innocent stare with his head tilted. Jay turned on his handheld and started going through last night’s footage.

            At first, there was nothing odd. Well, other than Jay tossing and turning and inevitably wrapping himself around Ammon, much to his embarrassment. Then, there was a faint sound. Ammon got up, and put his mask on. Jay stiffened as he watched the scene that played out before him. He was _horrified_ that he hadn’t woken up. And he felt very, _very… betrayed._ Jay stood up slowly. “Ammon,” he said, voice quivering ever so slightly as he turned to the man, “Did you… Did you let totheark into our hotel room last night?” Ammon stopped swinging his legs. “Did you… did you _let totheark INTO THE ROOM?_ While—” Jay coughed harshly, interrupting his own sentence. “While I was _sleeping?_ How could you _do that?_ He’s just as dangerous as Alex is for all we know!”

            Jay wanted to say more. More along the lines of “You were in his videos” and “Are you double-crossing me” and _“I thought we were friends,”_ but he couldn’t find his voice to do it. Jay doubled over, coughing. Ammon quickly got off the TV stand and rushed over to Jay, who was now on his knees on the floor. Jay angrily waved him off, still coughing. He spat out blood. It was getting hard for Jay to focus now. He heard the muffled sound of coughing other than his own, as Ammon started coughing, too. Ammon reached out for Jay again, trying to help him up. Jay’s mind was filled with blank static and the sound of coughing.

            He perceived very little now. He was up and leaning on his knees, still coughing, when Ammon fell over. Without the support, Jay was on the ground again, too. Jay looked up. Desperate. There had to be _something._ Something that could help. He saw Ammon. Ammon, seizing on the floor beside him. Jay wanted to help… He could barely move. His chest hurt so bad. His lungs burned. He tasted blood. Jay managed to crawl forward, every so slightly. He felt faint. He couldn’t think. Jay looked up. Past the bedpost, in the crack in the curtains, he thought he saw the figure of a very tall man.

 

* * *

 

            Jay opened his eyes. He felt like a mess, his chest hurt, and his headache wasn’t even gone. Slowly, he started to register his surroundings. No wonder his headache wasn’t gone—he was leaning against the window, and the subtle vibrations of the car were making his head bounce slightly. Wait. He was in a _CAR?_ When had he—panicking, Jay looked around. It was his own car. And Ammon was— _Ammon_ was _driving?_ It hadn’t even occurred to Jay that Ammon _could_ drive—though it made sense, since Tim could. “What’s going on? Where _are_ we? Where are we going?” Jay asked, alarmed, sitting up straight and seeing if he could spot his camera. Ammon didn’t answer, of course. Rather hard to do while driving when one’s vocabulary consisted of movements. Ammon did, however, glance over at Jay, noticing that he was awake.

            Jay blinked. The whole situation with Ammon driving felt… _bizarre._ Perhaps it was due to his lack of mask. It always felt strange to be able to look at Ammon’s face and eyes. Ammon put his hazard lights on and pulled over. “What _happened?”_ Jay asked, now that Ammon was able to answer. Ammon got out of the car. “Seriously?” Jay muttered, also getting out of the car. He walked around to the driver’s side. “That’s—” Ammon opened up the car door and picked up Jay’s camera, still recording. “Thank you,” Jay mumbled, taking it from Ammon. He glanced down awkwardly and happened to notice Ammon’s casted leg. “Hey, use your crutches!” Ammon leaned back against the car, and turned his face to Jay, giving him a blank stare.

            Jay’s spine tingled with that. He was _definitely_ not used to Ammon without his mask. There was an unexplainable feeling about knowing who someone was but seeing someone else’s face on them. Jay got the crutches out of the car and handed them to Ammon. He frowned slightly. All their—well, _his—_ stuff was strewn hastily over the backseat. They… must have left in a hurry. Ammon stood on his crutches, looking out at the road. “Yeah, we, uh… should probably move to the other side of the car, huh?” Jay said, closing the car door. They swapped sides, and Jay stood watching the footage while Ammon sat in the backseat, sticking his legs out the car door.

            Jay frowned as he watched the tape. He remembered… he remembered watching totheark’s entry. He remembered being panicked. The tape had a lot of static and coughing. He couldn’t really see what they were doing on the floor, but he _could_ see that _thing_ pass outside the window. Jay fast forwarded. Ammon got up, wobbling. Jay watched as he retrieved Jay’s car keys after some shuffling around in Jay’s bag. Ammon hastily threw everything back in the bag, and the laptop too, and left as quickly as he could on crutches. He returned with one crutch and no mask, and flung Jay over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, giving the camera a blank stare before picking that up, too. They received no resistance in leaving. Jay supposed he had looked black-out drunk.

            Jay closed the viewfinder, shuffling a bit. “So… What now? Do we just… go to a new hotel like the original plan, or…?” Jay realized that while he was watching the tape, Ammon had managed to get his mask and put it back on. Jay gave a soft laugh. Back to normal. As normal as he could be, anyways. Ammon nodded at Jay’s question. Jay took a deep, steadying breath. He stifled the urge to cough. “Alright,” Jay said. “Let’s get back on the road, then.” Ammon ended up sprawled out on the back seat, and while he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, he was at least propping his leg up. Jay wanted to apologize to Ammon. He realized Ammon didn’t actually mean any harm by letting totheark into the room. “Hey…” Jay began. He squinted at a road sign. “Where _are_ we?”


	10. Road Trip

            It was now Wednesday afternoon. They had found a new, cheap hotel to stay in, this time with _two_ beds, so that they didn’t have to go through anything awkward again. Jay was rummaging through his bag to see if anything had gotten left behind when it hit him. “Ammon,” Jay said, and the man tilted his head in response—(He didn’t turn to _look_ at Jay, of course, because he was _always_ staring)—“How long have you been wearing those clothes?” A slow shrug was his answer. Jay made a face. “Oookay,” he said. Jay took a moment to think about what could be done. Ammon had been on the floor of an abandoned house when he _first_ saw him in those clothes, and that had been a week ago. “Do you have any clothes at your—er, Tim’s house?”

            There was a short pause as Ammon gave him a stare that said _“of course I have clothes at my house, it’s_ my _house,”_ before nodding. “Maybe we should go get you some clothes.” Jay wrinkled his nose. “Well, at least you’ve been showering and stuff.” Ammon tilted his head and gave Jay a look he couldn’t discern. Jay cleared his throat. “We should go to Tim—your—Tim’s house, whatever—and get you some stuff.” A brief moment passed. “—I don’t know where you live,” Jay admitted sheepishly.

Ammon slid off the bed he had claimed and, using his crutches, walked over towards Jay while Jay watched in confusion. When he got to Jay, he turned to him and, leaning on his good leg, used his left hand to push up his mask. He gave Jay A Look, and if Jay had been paying more attention rather than marveling at the fact that Ammon had taken his mask off he would’ve been able to figure out what it meant. There was a table by the door that held a coffeemaker, Jay’s laptop, and Jay’s wallet and keys. Ammon walked over to it and snatched up the keys, dangling them from his fingers to say “I’m driving.”

 

* * *

 

            As expected, they drove in silence. Jay attempted to fiddle with the radio, but there hadn’t been anything good on. Jay had also fretted about Ammon driving with his cast on, but Ammon had reminded Jay that you only needed your right _foot_ to drive. It was easier than having Ammon give him directions, anyways, and Ammon definitely knew where he was going. Jay tried to spend most of the time looking out the window to gauge where they were, but he also ended up looking at Ammon’s face quite a lot. He couldn’t help it. Ammon _rarely_ took his mask off, and it was nice to be able to look at another human face. Jay would quickly look the other direction when Ammon briefly shifted his eyes to glance at Jay. He would’ve made a joke about the tables being turned, but, being honest, he was never that good with that sort of stuff. Ammon caught him in the act once, and cocked his head a little, other features on his face not changing. “Y—You have something in your hair,” Jay blurted, a blatant lie, and Ammon just slid his eyes back over to the road.

            Jay awkwardly shifted his eyes back over to the road in order to avoid staring at Ammon again. Jay frowned. “Is this… is this the way to that abandoned house we… “met” at?” He asked, concern obvious in his voice. Ammon’s silence answered his question. “Why are we going _here?”_ Jay asked, voice strained, but Ammon shook his head. “What are we doing, then?” Jay muttered, relieved they weren’t going back to that house but _definitely_ still concerned. He got his answer when, after another minute or so of driving, Ammon pulled into the driveway of a house with an overgrown yard. There was another car parked there.

            Ammon opened the door to get out and Jay scrambled to get the crutches out of the backseat before Ammon did anything stupid and messed up his leg. Ammon waited patiently for Jay, though. He walked right over to the other car and just… opened the door. “Uh,” Jay said. Ammon pulled out a wallet and keys and shoved them in his pocket. “Umm,” Jay muttered nervously. Ammon shut the door and walked back over to Jay’s car. “Is that— _your_ car?” Jay asked, and Ammon nodded. “Is it okay to just leave it here…?” Ammon shrugged and gave a nod to it. Jay was still fidgeting nervously, but he resigned himself to trust Ammon. “I guess if it’s been here this long and it’s fine a little longer shouldn’t hurt,” He muttered, mostly to reassure himself.

            Ammon got in the driver’s seat again and Jay took care of his crutches for him. Ammon hummed a little as Jay got in the car. Jay almost couldn’t believe his ears. He had heard Ammon hum once before, but that was… muffled, through the mask. It barely sounded like a real voice. It was strange to be able to _hear_ him, even if it was only a low hum that lasted a couple seconds. Jay _felt_ strange hearing it, anyways. They drove again, straight to Tim’s house this time, and Jay managed not to stare at Ammon and instead look out the window and wonder about what would happen once they got there.

            “Oh… this is your house?” Jay asked once they arrived and parked in the driveway, and Ammon gave him A Look before putting his mask on. Secretly Jay was grateful. It was a lot less distracting when he wore his mask, which was a weird thought in and of itself for several reasons. Jay got out and got the crutches for Ammon, who walked over to the door with Jay following somewhat nervously behind. Despite the fact that it was technically Ammon’s house as much as Tim’s, it still felt strange to enter Tim’s home without Tim. But nevertheless, Ammon opened the door with the key he had gotten from his car and they both walked in.

            “Nice place,” Jay commented, but Ammon had already set to work going to where Jay presumed was his room to pack. “Okay,” he muttered when he didn’t get a response. “I’ll just… stay here, then,” Jay called to Ammon a bit more loudly than he probably needed to. Jay shuffled his feet a bit and exhaled loudly. He glanced around. Tim’s house was… surprising. Jay wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. It didn’t feel like _Ammon’s_ house at all, partially because it wasn’t, and it only highlighted the difference between him and Tim more. The house wasn’t exactly tidy, but it wasn’t quite the mess Jay had been expecting, either.

            Jay shuffled awkwardly again. He hadn’t really thought this through, and wasn’t sure how long it was even going to be before Ammon was done packing. Did he even know how to pack? The more Jay stood there thinking about it, the less sure of himself he was. Agitated, he decided to keep himself busy by snooping around the house. In all honesty, he didn’t even really _know_ that much about Ammon. Or Tim. This might be his best chance to learn more about them.

            The living room Jay and Ammon had entered through was all mismatched furniture and scattered belongings on the floor and piled on any available surface, sheer curtains covered the windows, letting in some light but blocking any view of the outside. There was a fireplace set into one wall, it didn't look like it was used very often if at all. Propped against the far wall was what appeared to be a case for some sort of musical instrument, he zoomed his camera's view in on that, wondering what it might be. Panning around, Jay found a semi-tidy bookcase against the wall near the door and immediately began scanning the titles in the hope that they would reveal something about the owner of this house. There was a pretty wide range of books, multiple genres of fiction and non-fiction. Jay sighed, all he could gather from this was that Tim read a lot, since it looked like Tim read _everything,_ not just a specific genre or author like he had expected. He adjusted his camera and moved on. Nearby was a smallish entertainment center with a TV on it and all the rest of its visible surface cluttered with stacks of DVDs, CDs, and other objects. Jay decided he didn't have time to look through was most likely another multi-genre assortment of media, gave the area a quick zoom in with his camera, and then trudged out of the living room toward the kitchen area.

            From where Jay stood he could now see through a doorway down a hallway, containing several doors: two on the right, one on the end, and one on the left. The one at the end was open slightly, Jay assumed that was where Ammon had gone, since he could also hear some faint shuffling noises, but couldn't be sure of their origin. Further on was a long counter flanked by a few bar stools and beyond that was a cluttered kitchen, which he zoomed in on for a quick pan. Jay shook his head, he couldn't see any point in rifling through a _kitchen,_ what would he find? Passing the kitchen, he gave the area a brief once-over, only to find more stacks of books and scattered empty boxes and bags. He nearly had a heart attack, though—and he dropped his camera in surprise—when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall next to an exterior door he didn't see when he first entered the room. Picking up his camera and shaking off the shock of an unexpected mirror, Jay decided he'd better find _something_ useful before Ammon finished packing, and there was _clearly_ nothing out here. He needed to find out what was behind those doors in the hallway.

            Standing in the doorway before that hall, Jay zoomed his camera's view into the room at the end of the hall. With this enhanced view, he could make out some slight movement beyond the door, confirming his theory, though, since the door was only open about halfway, he still couldn't see exactly what Ammon was doing, so he had no idea how far along in packing the masked man was. Returning the view to normal, Jay decided to continue with his search, since Ammon was doing _something,_ which was better than nothing. Shifting the camera to his non-dominant hand, he turned to the first door, which had been to his right. He opened the door to reveal a small closet containing a few stacks of neatly folded towels, more boxes, which Jay assumed couldn't possibly be empty this time, and various household supplies. It all looked so _normal._ So far there was absolutely nothing Jay could find that help expand his impression of either Tim _or Ammon_ for that matter. He quietly closed the closet door and moved on to the next door, which was conveniently immediately to his left. Holding his breath and closing his eyes, hoping for something useful, Jay opened the door and stepped inside.

            It was a bathroom. Jay released his breath in an exasperated huff, his shoulders slumping, _of course_ it was a bathroom, why would it be _anything_ other than an ordinary non-helpful _bathroom?_ He panned his camera around the small room, stopping when he came upon a white cabinet on the wall. Tentatively Jay reached out and grasped one of the knobs, pulling open a door. He repeated this with the other door and then set about looking at the items on the shelves. Jay quickly passed over most of the items on the shelves, as he spotted a few empty pill bottles on the bottom shelf, zooming in on them with his camera. Their labels were ripped off, so he couldn't tell what they might have once contained. This was _something,_ though. The bottles resembled the ones he had found in Brian's abandoned house, which, he realized, was _also_ the first place he had encountered the masked man he was now calling Ammon. Jay closed the cabinet and carefully set his camera down on the sink counter. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it was a clue.

            Briefly, Jay wondered what type of soap Ammon (or Tim?) used when he wasn't stuck in hotels and abandoned houses, and whether it would smell nice—he shook away the thought, though, thinking it was far too strange. It was at about that time that he began to feel an all-too-familiar sensation of being watched, that prickling on the back of his neck as his hair stood on end. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he spun around to see Ammon leaning on the doorframe, staring at him. “H-hey I, uh, I thought maybe I'd look in here for anything you might need,” Jay lied, “Wasn't sure where anything was, though.” Ammon seemed to consider this for a moment before limping toward the cabinet Jay had just been looking in and opening it. “Are you finished packing yet?” Jay asked. Ammon grabbed a few things, put them in his jacket pockets, and turned back to Jay, making a noncommittal gesture with his hand. “Oh, alright, well...let me know when you are, we should get back to the hotel as soon as possible.” Jay picked his camera back up and focused it on Ammon, who stared at it for a moment before nodding and limping out of the bathroom.

            Once he was sure the coast was clear, Jay left the bathroom and crossed the hallway to the last door, thankful that this time around the door to Ammon's room was fully closed, so he wouldn't be noticed sneaking around. This was the last room available to him, and there was _no way_ he was getting into the attic undetected, it _had_ to have something in it that would help him understand his companion. Jay opened the door and took a step inside, looking at his camera's viewfinder as he panned across what appeared to be a junk-filled office. He zoomed in on an area by a window, finding a desk scattered with piles of books and papers and a dusty laptop that Jay figured was password-protected, and therefore useless to him. _If only Tim had bags of tapes lying around like Alex,_ Jay thought. He then noticed, in a corner of the room, more cases like the one he saw in the living room leaning against the wall, and an electronic keyboard on the floor, and, sitting atop a box, a light brown ukulele. Something about this assortment of instruments brought a small grin to Jay's face, and he approached the instruments, picking up the ukulele in his free hand.

            Suddenly Jay felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to come face to face with Ammon, standing with his crutches and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, eyes boring a hole through Jay. “A-are you finished packing now?” Jay asked, taking a step back out of self-preservation instinct. Ammon's eyes darted accusatorily to the camera in Jay's hand, causing Jay to lower it like a child being scolded. Ammon followed the camera with his eyes until something else caught his attention and his hard stare softened, he was looking at the ukulele Jay was still holding. Realizing this, Jay held it out to him, “Is this yours? O-or Tim's?” Ammon nodded slowly, not exactly a clear answer, but Jay took whatever he could get, “Can _you_ play it?” Ammon tilted his head at the question, but nonetheless took the instrument from Jay and began to play, albeit a little slowly and clumsily, a simple tune that Jay was sure he recognized but couldn't place. As soon as Jay had his camera raised and back in focus, Ammon had stopped playing the ukulele and set it down nearby. Disappointing. Before he knew it the masked man took hold of his shoulder again and awkwardly pulled him out into the hallway. It was time to go.

            Jay followed behind Ammon, sweeping his camera around the house one last time as he went. Passing through the kitchen area, something on the counter caught Jay's eye, “Hey wait!” he called out, Ammon turned around, his stare as hard as ever. Jay ducked away toward the counter, finding what had attracted him: a pack of cigarettes. He picked it up and returned to Ammon, “I think you forgot this,” he held out the pack to the man in the mask, expecting him to take it. Ammon, however, just stared at Jay as if he was speaking a different language. “These _are_ your cigarettes, right?” Jay asked, holding up the pack in a more clarifying gesture. Ammon shook his head, Jay was confused, he remembered Tim smoked in college, he had video to prove it, and if there were cigarettes in the house, that obviously meant Tim was still a smoker, but somehow... _Ammon wasn't?_ As Jay stood there trying to wrap his head around what he'd just discovered, Ammon had started to walk again, so Jay shoved the cigarette pack in his hoodie pocket and caught up with him.

            “Well… I guess it’s official now, then,” Jay said awkwardly, pushing aside any attempt to wrap his brain around things. “We’re gonna be partners in… whatever this is, for a while.” He coughed awkwardly. Ammon shot him a glance. As they headed outside, Jay pondered what they were going to do about Tim’s car. “What about your…” Jay trailed off as Ammon unlocked the doors to Jay's own car. Oh. He guessed that meant they'd figure it out later. “I think I know my way back from here,” Jay offered as Ammon put his things in the trunk of Jay’s car. “So if you didn’t want to drive, I mean, I could.” Ammon opened the driver’s side door and handed Jay his crutches, moving his mask to the side of his face and giving Jay a very spine-tingling look. “Or not,” he huffed. They headed back to the hotel after a successful trip of packing and a not-so-successful trip of snooping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long! It's been a busy, stressful month. This chapter is twice as long as normal though, so hopefully that makes up for it!  
> MaskyIsNotAProxy wrote half of this chapter!


	11. Rosswood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entries this chapter corresponds to are Entry 40, 41, and 42. Very few changes have been made, but there have been changes made.

            It was now Friday, April 30th, 2010. Alex had finally called Jay back the day prior, simply saying “Meet me at Rosswood park tomorrow.” He didn’t clarify any further than that, so Jay had looked it up, mumbling and grumbling the whole time. Ammon seemed to have an idea about Rosswood, but in all honesty using google was faster. “He didn’t say _when,_ and I don’t want to miss him,” Jay said apologetically to the accusatory look Ammon was giving him. As much as Jay liked Ammon’s company over Alex’s, though, he had to admit it was going to be nice to escape the feeling of being watched constantly. He had woken up today _and_ yesterday to Ammon crouching at the foot of his bed, staring at him. Although, with his constant paranoia and that _thing_ he couldn’t escape that sensation; there was another reason Jay wanted a bit of alone time. But he’d deal with that later.

            “You’re gonna be okay here on your own, right?” Jay fidgeted anxiously with his camera. Ammon moved a single arm in a “Seriously? I’m an adult” gesture, and Jay huffed in embarrassment. “Alright, alright. Don’t put too much weight on your foot. Don’t crouch in too many weird places!” Ammon’s stare followed Jay out the door. It was a quiet drive, even mentally, for Jay, which was a surprising phenomenon. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.

 

* * *

 

            As soon as Jay got to Rosswood Park, he set his camera down on the car and called Alex. He got the answering machine. Of course. “Alex? Uh, you didn’t actually tell me what time you were gonna meet me here, so, uh… I’m here, whenever you decide to come.” After a moment, Jay hung up. Taking his camera back, he decided to scout out the area as best as he could while waiting. There was an area across the road with trees and what seemed to be hiking trails. “Windy,” Jay observed. And he waited. And waited.

            After what seemed like forever waiting for Alex and not getting an answer, Jay decided to explore the trails he had seen. And it was _definitely_ nice to have some alone time. _Why Rosswood?_ Jay wondered, _Of all places, why Rosswood?_ It didn’t make any sense, and some part of him was hoping to find _something,_ some sort of clue, while he was walking. Even if the chances _were_ slim. He walked over streams, by fallen logs, just walking through the park. Nothing. There was nothing. No clues. Jay felt a strange sensation, like a white noise headache, in the far, far back of his brain. He didn’t realize his camera began to glitch out.

            There was a clearing. Moving his camera about to try and show how large it was, and how… _burnt_ it seemed, Jay’s eyes (and camera) came to rest on a fallen log near the center of it, and Jay figured with how much he had been walking that he ought to do the same. He set his camera down again. He called Alex again. And got the voicemail. _Again._ “Alex, um, I’m in the woods right now near where I parked so… If you’re and wondering where I am, I’m here. I’ll probably be back out there in about fifteen or twenty minutes—I’m not sure where I am, so—I’ll be out there in just a minute.” Jay picked up the camera.

            The clearing was… very strange, to say the least. He couldn’t quite place how it made him feel. _Paranoid,_ maybe. He turned. There was something there. A chimney, maybe, made of brick and standing tall despite its crumbling edges. Vines crawled out of its narrower stack, creating the illusion of a tree perching on the more box-like part. There may have been an actual tree in it, too. It was hollow. It had an almost man-shaped hole. He approached the structure. There was a shorter one off in the distance. Jay felt… _drawn_ to the one he was closest to. Circling it, he panned his camera up. Looking at it with both his and the camera’s eyes.  Jay _thought_ that maybe sticking his camera in the hole would give him a better view of what was inside. It didn’t. He let out a disgruntled noise.

            Jay supposed that meant he had better head back to where Alex was waiting. To where Alex was _possibly_ waiting. Jay turned to head back. _And booked it—_ There it was, that _thing_ just standing there tall, ominously making his head hurt—Jay tripped over a vine. He scrambled to get back up, his mind chanting “ _Run run run run”_ and “ _It sees me sees me SEES ME,”_ his head and heart pounding, blood roaring in his ears. And then it _was there again, closer,_ and instincts kicked in. Jay abandoned his camera and fled as fast as he could run, not looking back or stopping.

            He was _still_ running when he ran into Alex in every sense of the phrase. “Jay! What the hell are you doing out here?” Jay didn’t bother to answer _or_ stop running—there was no time. “Come on we gotta get out of here come on!” He practically interrupted Alex. He heard Alex’s _“What?”_ faintly and just yelled “RUN!” And that’s what he kept doing. Until he _finally_ reached the open area of the park again. Jay was exhausted, still catching his breath under a tree. Alex, as it happened, had _not_ run. That much was obvious. “What was that all about?” Alex asked as he approached. “What are you running from?”

            Jay tried very hard to breathe. “That… thing.” Alex deadpanned. “That thing is in there?” Jay looked down at the ground. “A couple of miles in, but yeah.” Alex made a face. “What were you doing a couple of miles in the woods?” Jay was exhausted from running. Tired. Scared. Out of breath. And snappish. “I don’t know, I was tired of waiting on you? Because you didn’t tell me—what time you were gonna be here.” Jay inhaled. Exhaled. “And… you know, I thought I’d take a look around while I was waiting. And I got kind of lost I guess.”

            “You got lost in woods you’ve never been.” Jay stifled any urge to retort with something snarky. “Yes.” He was too out of it to think of anything even remotely clever, anyways. “Do you at least have the camera?” Alex asked, and Jay dropped his head down. He felt like a little kid being scolded. Alex just had that sort of tone. Jay muttered something that might have been “No”. Alex shifted his stance. “Is the _camera_ a couple of miles in the woods?”

            “Yes, it is, because I _dropped it!”_ Was Alex _kidding_ right now? Seriously? Jay was _not_ in the mood to deal with that from him, after having run however many miles in however many minutes from some stupid terrifying _thing._ He looked pointedly at Alex. Alex let out a short puff of a sigh. And began walking. “Let’s go.” There was no way Jay was moving any more than he had to. Alex wheeled around. “Come on. Let’s _go.”_ Jay didn’t like Alex bossing him around. He wanted to tell Alex off for it. Jay got up and followed Alex.

            Halfway back to the parking lot, Alex spoke up. “You know, I watched totheark’s video from a while ago. I don’t know if you saw that. Do you know what was up with it?” Alarm bells went off in Jay’s mind, and he hoped desperately that his semi-exhausted state would help in him playing it down. “What do you mean?” He asked slowly. “I _mean,”_ Alex said, “The video was called ‘secrets’ and seemed to imply that _totheark,_ whoever _that_ is, knows something that _I_ don’t. So I was just wondering,” Alex turned, still walking, to face Jay for a moment—“If you were keeping secrets.”

            If Jay hadn’t already been walking, he would have fidgeted uncomfortably. “No…” He muttered. “Are you sure? Because it seems to me that’s what they’re implying.” Jay frowned. “Well, you said it yourself you don’t even know who they are. Why should you believe them? It’s not like they have any evidence.” They walked in silence for a moment. “Yeah, well, I don’t really have any reason to believe _you_ either, now do I?” Immediately, Jay protested. “That’s not fair, you’re the one that asked for _my_ help!” Alex huffed. “Well, maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should’ve asked someone else. But that doesn’t matter now. I’m choosing to trust you, Jay. Don’t break that trust.” Jay felt a pang of guilt despite what he knew Alex might be capable of. “I won’t,” He muttered.

            Jay hesitated. “Why didn’t you run from that thing?” Alex shrugged. “I figured it was far enough away that it wasn’t going to matter.” Jay shoved his hands in his pockets. Suddenly he had a very bad feeling about the whole situation with Alex and Amy. He couldn’t quite place it, though. He never could quite place it. “How can I trust _you?”_ Jay said suddenly. “Did you really run from that thing when…”

            “You _saw_ what was on the video I sent you,” Alex interrupted. They were at the parking lot, finally. “And you have _no clue_ where Amy is?” Jay asked, to clarify. “No.” Jay wasn’t even sure _why_ Alex had asked for his help. “Well, what do you want me to do about it?” Jay reached his car and headed for the driver’s side door.  _“Help_ me, Jay! Look, we have a better chance of finding her together.” Jay sighed, thinking. “Yeah, I’ll—I’ll help you but, today, I’m done.”

            _“Why?”_ Jay was taken aback. He had figured that much was obvious. “Fine! Fine.” Alex hadn’t even given him a chance to respond. “Alex, I said I’d help you!” Jay tried to explain, “I just—I can’t today, not after _that.”_ He gestured to the woods. “I’m just gonna… go back to my hotel or something.” Alex let out an exasperated sigh and got in his car to leave. But Jay’s focus was on his own car—or rather, what was inside it. “Alex, wait!” He called, and heard the all-too-familiar _“What?”,_ complete with tone. Jay’s camera had _somehow_ put itself back in the car. He picked it up, examining it for scratches, and carried it over to Alex. “It was in my car,” He explained.

            “What’s on it?” Alex asked, and Jay checked. “I don’t know, I guess the battery’s dead.” Alex stared for a moment. “We’ll check it when we get to a hotel. Let’s go.” Immediately Jay went into panic mode. “I’m—I’m still checked into my other hotel,” he sputtered, and Alex let out a harsh sigh. Thinking quickly, he added, “I’ll just… upload it as an entry when I get back. That’s what I normally do anyways,” he muttered. Alex grumbled. _“Alright,_ I’d still rather see it for _myself,_ but I guess that’s fine.” Alex got in his car and drove off like he was in some kind of hurry, and Jay sighed in relief. That… could have gone better. But it also could’ve gone a lot worse.

            Jay checked the footage with Ammon when he got back to the hotel. He huffed in exasperation. _Of course_ it was Totheark. Ammon tilted his head to ask what happened next, and Jay began telling Ammon about running into— _literally—_ Alex in the woods, and their conversation afterwords. “He is _such_ a pain,” Jay complained to Ammon, who tilted his head in amusement and nodded. Jay uploaded the footage from his camera, including the bit the hooded man had taken, as Entry #29.

            “I met Alex on the way out of the woods.”—Read the text explaining what Jay didn’t have footage of. “We talked about finding Amy, but I didn’t want to do anything else. Not after that. The camera battery was dead, so I told Alex I would upload what I found.” There was another pause. “It looks like that hooded man found my camera and brought it back. I’m not sure why.” The video ended with text reading "If we do find anything that might be important, I'll upload it here." They were back to waiting on Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entries that correspond to Jay's Entry #29 are Entry 40 and 41.


	12. Contemplation

            As much as Jay had been trying to avoid it, the reason he wanted to be away from Ammon for a little bit had come back around full force and now, he couldn’t get it out of his head. The fact of the matter was, it was _strange_ being around Ammon. Far too strange—stranger than it ought to be. His ever-present gaze was _one_ thing, but his _very presence_ was setting Jay on edge. It made him, well, easily flustered, it made him feel awkward, or like he was treading on glass. It made his stomach do loops when Ammon simply tilted his head. Jay couldn’t figure it out—or rather, he _could,_ but he had been putting it off. Because it couldn’t be. No way. They were supposed to be partners _in crime,_ not… Well.

            But there was no denying it any longer. Jay had spent the past two days after the incident at Rosswood putting it off, and simply being around Ammon, but it was going to drive him crazy—crazier than even the paranoia that came with having seen whatever that thing was. Jay sighed deeply, hoping not to disturb Ammon, who was still sleeping. Jay… had a crush. He had a huge, undeniable _crush_ on Ammon. 

Of course, Ammon was still sleeping because it was, well, 5am. Even _Ammon_ couldn’t get up that early. Jay had woken up and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. He glanced over at the sleeping man. Ammon never wore his mask while sleeping; Jay assumed it was because it was hard to breathe. But it _did not help_ the thoughts running around his head. It was one of the only times Jay got to see his face—except when Ammon was driving and had lifted his mask up to look pointedly at Jay—wait. _Wait._ What had that look meant? With a jolt that sent a strong flush to his face Jay realized Ammon might have been _flirting_ with him the whole time.

            In fact, the more Jay thought about it, the more Jay realized how many of the things Ammon had done could have been taken as flirting, and _might actually have been._ His face got redder and redder and he tried to stifle any embarrassing squeaks he may have made as he thought about the possibility that not only did _he_ like Ammon, but _Ammon might like him back._ The same thoughts kept running themselves over and over again in his mind, and Jay nearly snorted at how corny some of them were. He felt like he was pulling the petals off a flower—“Maybe he likes me. What if he doesn’t? But maybe he does!”—Over and over in his head. He glanced at Ammon again and winced at his own action. Ammon was… admittedly, very, very handsome. And indescribably beautiful when he was peaceful and asleep. _And that was another thing._

            Because Ammon was handsome, and Jay had a crush on _Ammon,_ but… Ammon had _Tim’s_ face? So did that mean that Jay also found _Tim_ handsome? Jay shook his head—well, it was true, but it was strange to think about in that manner. Did liking Ammon mean he liked _Tim_ too? No, Jay didn’t think so, and he quickly dismissed the thought—they were not at all the same, after all, even without the mask and jacket. But Jay—Jay couldn’t even look at Ammon, even with Tim’s face, without his stomach doing flips and his heart beating faster. He had it bad, that was for sure. What could he even _do_ about it?

            He could sit here and stew in his feelings for the rest of the day. Maybe even the rest of the week, or however long they stayed partnered together. _Or…_ If there was even a chance that Ammon _had_ been flirting with him… Jay shook his head. No way. He couldn’t just—he couldn’t just _confess to Ammon_ that he had a crush on him! Because if Ammon _didn’t_ like him back, then things could get _very_ awkward _very_ fast. But on the off chance that he did… Jay sighed and took a deep breath. He’d decided, he was going to confess—and he should probably do that as soon as Ammon woke up, so he didn’t chicken out or lose his nerve.

            Jay had spent the past half hour fidgeting, (though it had felt more like several hours), trying to think of how he was going to say it. He was never very good with words, so he ended up deciding it would be best to be blunt. Blunt and simple, and, with luck, he wouldn’t stutter too much either. Ammon stirred from where he lay on the bed, and Jay nearly leaped out of his seat due to how nervous he was. “Ammon, I’m glad you’re awake, I had something I wanted to talk to you about,” Jay began nervously. The man groaned as he sat up. “Who the hell’s _Ammon?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This doesn't really have to do with the chapter, but... we've gotten so many kudos and comments lately, and even a piece of fanart-- we're so thankful for all of you! It means a lot to us that you love our fic so much! We appreciate all the support, and comments, and kudos-- words cannot properly express what it means to us. (But perhaps "screeching" might?) Thank you all so much!


	13. Observation

Totheark uploaded a video. The title was “Observation”.

The audio was distorted, the footage tearing, but it was unmistakably Alex and Jay in a parking lot. Pacing, talking.

WHAT ARE YOU HIDING

—flickered the text over the scene.

The camera zoomed in on the hotel in the background, as a curtain moved, and a masked face peered out quickly from behind it before vanishing again.

WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING

Other footage flashed across the screen—slowed down, it showed Jay, sleeping in a hotel bed—Jay, being carried by the masked man—the masked man opening the door—

Letters played across a black screen.

U1NCQlRTQlhRVWxVU1U1SA==

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hint: When decoding, second time's the charm


	14. Awakening

            Any wheels that were turning in Jay’s mind about confessing to Ammon promptly flew off their axis and spun in a hundred different directions at once. _“T-Tim?”_ He sputtered, because why would _Ammon_ talk? Or not know who he was? “Yeah, Tim,” Tim snarked, sitting up and attempting to process things. “Where _am_ I?” Jay started stuttering. “You, you’re uh, you’re in a hotel—” His explanation died off as Tim shot him an absolutely debilitating look. “Well, what am I doing in a hotel with _you?”_ Tim shot. “You… _do_ at least remember me, then,” Jay said tentatively. “I guess, but I’ve kind of got bigger concerns than that right now. Like, I don’t know, _what day even is it?”_

             “Monday,” Jay said without hesitation. Tim looked at him incredulously. “I meant the _date.”_ Jay huffed in embarrassment and looked away. “Oh, uh, the uh, May 3rd.” Tim _panicked._ “It’s _MAY?”_ Jay didn’t know what to do with himself. “I—yeah—” Tim didn’t even let the man pretend to assemble a sentence before he interrupted. “I’ve been out for _three weeks?_ Oh mannn oh no my boss is gonna _kill_ me—” It was then that Tim attempted to get out of the bed, and discovered he had a cast on his leg. He looked straight at Jay. “What. _Happened?”_

            “It’s broken,” Jay explained, “Or fractured—Alex broke it when—” Tim made a face and held up his hand. “Wait. Alex, as in Alex, the director guy you wanted me to tell you about a while ago? _Jesus,”_ Tim muttered. Jay was at a loss. Tim grunted and ran his hands through his hair. “Ugh, I _really_ need a smoke.” Jay, not knowing what else to do, went over and handed the crutches that were next to Ammon’s bed—Tim’s bed now? Yikes, that was confusing—to Tim, and, while he was at it, pulled Tim’s cigarettes that he had pocketed from the drawer and handed those to him, too. “Thanks,” Tim remarked, casting Jay a sideways glance as he tried out the crutches. “Now, where’s the exit?”

            “Y-you can’t just _leave—”_ Jay sputtered, and Tim rolled his eyes. “To smoke. I’m not leaving just yet. I have questions.” Jay felt the tips of his ears get red in embarrassment. “Oh. Right. Turn right out the door,” he said, and Tim started heading out before stopping. He sighed, _very_ annoyed. “I don’t have my phone on me.” Jay nervously pulled his own phone out of his pocket. “You can borrow mine…” Tim shot Jay a look like he was trying to figure him out. “Thanks.” Jay grabbed his camera and followed Tim out the doors, into the parking lot, and stood at a distance as Tim called his workplace. He knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping, much as he wanted to, but he did do a bit of subtle zooming in as Tim talked. Jay approached Tim as he ended the call and lowered the phone.

            “How’d it go?” Jay questioned as Tim wordlessly handed him his phone back. Tim pulled a lighter from his jacket pocket and lit one of the cigarettes Jay had given him. Jay waited silently as Tim took a few deep breaths of smoke. “I was _fired,”_ Tim said in a low tone with a hard look on his face, “And I get the feeling it has something to do with _you.”_ Jay was taken aback. “Me? I didn’t do _anything,”_ He sputtered, far too defensively for someone who _really hadn’t_ done anything. “Oh, _really?”_ Tim said, taking a step towards Jay. “Then you’re going to have to tell me why I woke up with _no memory_ in a HOTEL ROOM with you,” He said accusingly.

            Jay’s ears grew red. “I don’t know what you’re thinking but it’s not that, really,” Jay tried to explain. “When Ammon—” Tim interrupted with a look of impatience on his face. “ _Who_ is Ammon? What are you talking about?” Jay stopped. Tim had _no idea_ about his other personality. How was _he_ going to explain it to Tim? Would Tim even believe him? “Well,” Jay started reluctantly, “He’s you—not _really_ you but he’s—uh—well I was in an abandoned building, looking for Alex. And then someone in a mask came out and attacked him. When we got the mask off it was… _you—_ but it wasn’t _really_ you! It was… someone else? But, in your body—” Jay got the feeling he really wasn’t doing the situation justice, or explaining very well at all.

He wasn’t. Tim stared at him skeptically for what felt like forever before finally speaking, “Jay. This isn't making any sense. You're telling me there's been someone...another person...just controlling me?! You expect me to accept that?” Jay nodded frantically, “I… I have tapes—recordings—as evidence, if you wanted—” He was met with a cold stare that immediately shut him up. “Yeah,” Tim said, “I’d need to see some proof before I believe a story like that.” Jay nearly missed it, but for a split second Tim looked hesitant. Like he already believed it, but was just… reluctant to. Jay tried to shake it off; any more prying at this point would probably land him a punch to the face and nothing else. The urge was strong, though.

            “My laptop’s inside,” Jay said slowly, “And I have the uh, tapes on there. When you’re… finished with that.” He gestured to the cigarette that was burning out as they spoke. Tim glanced at it, and then Jay, and then nodded. “Sure, alright,” He said, taking a few deep drags off the smoldering cigarette. “I’ll… let you have some space, I guess. I’ll be in ou—my hotel room.” He told Tim the number and trudged back inside, burning with a mix of emotions. Confusion. Frustration. Embarrassment. Worry. And whatever else his crush on Ammon gave him only complicated that more. Jay sat down sullenly at his desk, and after a few moments, booted up his laptop. He might as well, while he was waiting.

            It seemed like forever but soon enough there was a knock on the door. “It’s me,” Said Tim, and Jay tried to hide his very quiet sigh. He opened the door. “The laptop’s booted up, everything’s… loaded or whatever,” Jay said, fidgeting in place. He intended on avoiding showing Tim the Marble Hornets footage until he had to. Anyways, it was mostly irrelevant. He did however arrange the tapes in chronological order. That particular footage consisted of when Alex broke Ammon (and Tim’s) leg, bits at the hospital when Ammon grabbed for his mask, most of when they decided to form an alliance, some of their day to day life and communications, and stuff like that. Jay left out the footage from the night he and Ammon accidentally ended up cuddling, though, and everything after that, too. He didn’t need Tim seeing that, _or_ the hooded man sneaking in, _or_ that _thing,_ or that he had been to Tim’s house, either. That could only work against him.

            “Sure thing, but before that, I have a question.” Jay hesitated, but he had to be honest with Tim if he wanted… what _did_ he want? But either way it was probably for the best. “Well, what is it?” He asked hesitantly. Tim gestured to the camera. “What’s with all the… ‘pointing your camera in everybody’s face’ thing? How come you even _have_ footage? Why are you recording everything?” It was a fair question. Jay stopped short. “Well… it’s a long story. I guess it has to do with…” He fidgeted again. “Paranoia or whatever… I’ve been having trouble remembering things so, y’know, I guess I like to know what happened.” He shrugged, acting as if recording oneself to remember things was normal. At the very least, it was helpful, especially in cases like this. Tim looked at him strangely. “Uh, okay. I guess that makes sense. Not _much_ though.”

            Jay paced a hole in the floor on Ammon’s—Tim’s now?—side of the room while Tim watched the footage with a look of growing concern and confusion. Jay had set his camera down, because to be honest looking at all the circling footage later might make him dizzy, but he still anxiously looked over at Tim every fifth pace or so. Eventually, Tim reached the end (of what Jay was willing to show him.) “That’s _not_ me,” Tim conceded, albeit agitatedly. “That wasn’t me.” Jay sighed in relief and finally stopped pacing. “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” he said. “I looked it up a while ago, but, you know, he seems to be an… alternate personality. And I think he remembers the stuff you don’t.” Jay shrugged awkwardly. “He was pretty nice though, once you got past the mask and weird crouching.”

            “Good to know,” Tim huffed. He took a shaky breath and ran his hands through his hair. “So much makes sense now,” he muttered. “I’d wake up not remembering _anything,_ having been out for who knows how long, I’d feel so sick—” Abruptly, he looked up at Jay. “This is _your_ fault.” Jay threw up his hands. “How is this _my_ fault?” He cried. A look of panic came over Tim's face. “I've just watched footage of-of-of whatever the hell has been going on, filmed by _your_ camera! You tell me.” Jay flinched at the mention of his camera; even though he truly had nothing to do with Ammon's existence, it still felt pretty damning to be one to have filmed everything. Tim pushed the chair away from the desk and stood, facing Jay with a pained expression, “And you just sat around pretending everything was normal while I was taken over by whatever this _thing_ is—” his words were cut short when he attempted to take a step away from where he stood by the desk, only to find his footing unsteady and he had to grasp the back of the chair to keep himself upright. Jay almost bolted to help, but held back when Tim caught himself and sighed, remembering helping Ammon when he had lost his balance on that same broken leg.

            “I don’t really think calling him a _thing_ is fair,” Jay muttered, which Tim met with an incredulous look on his face. “I mean he _clearly_ has a personality, _obviously_ it’s not _your_ personality, but—” Tim interrupted him with a scoff. “Obviously,” he said sardonically. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. Jay wondered if there was anything he could do to make the situation better. “It… it wasn’t the first time I met him,” He confessed. That probably did not make the situation better. Tim stared him down. Even without having lived with Ammon Jay would’ve recognized that as a cue to explain. Though Tim’s stares were _significantly_ more emotion-filled than Ammon’s. Jay took a breath.

            “I was… exploring an abandoned house,” he explained, “And Ammon was on the couch. And he rushed me. I don’t _remember_ it but I recorded it.” Tim huffed. “No surprise _there,”_ he muttered under his breath. Jay ignored him. “And then l met him again when, uh…” Mid-sentence Jay realized that Tim’s alter ego being a stalker did _not_ help Ammon’s case. “Whatever, you can just watch the tapes. But the point is, he was—you were— _already like that!_ My filming had nothing to do with it.” Tim took another shaky breath. He winced as he accidentally put pressure on his leg, and leaned on his good leg instead.

            Jay’s phone made a noise from his pocket, derailing both of them. Jay checked it. It was a twitter notification. _“Great,”_ Jay muttered, “Totheark uploaded another video.” Tim led out a _very_ loud sigh, and he moved aside as Jay went over to the laptop and sat down. “Now who or _what_ is _totheark?”_ He asked, exasperated. “A youtuber,” Jay mumbled, not really paying too much attention now that he was focused on watching the new video. Paranoia had started buzzing in the back of his brain. “He and Ammon used to be friends, but I think that ended when Ammon started hanging out with me.” Jay was already going to TTA’s channel. “Hmm,” Tim said. “So I take it this totheark person doesn’t like you, then.” Jay didn’t answer as the video played. Tim watched, too.

            Jay ran his hands over his face. “Great, just fantastic,” he mumbled through his hands. “Ammon and I worked _so_ hard to keep our working together a secret and now he just—” Jay breathed, and took his hands off his face. “— _Shows it to everybody_ like it’s some sort of game!” Tim made a face. “Well, I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on, but I get the feeling your and _Ammon_ or whatever’s plans were done for anyways. I mean, _I’m_ the one here now, right? What exactly were you going to do, continue whatever scheme you had going on with _me_ instead? You said it yourself, we’re totally different people.”

            Jay’s face burned at that. Tim was right. It felt like longer, but the week and a half that Jay and Ammon had spent carefully planning and plotting was now in ruins. They couldn’t get back that element of surprise. Jay wasn’t even sure he could get back _Ammon._ He heaved a heavy sigh and tried to calm down. “You’re right,” Jay muttered, in a low, bitter tone. “I don’t really know what I was going to do if you woke up. And now you’re here and not Ammon. So I guess…” He shrugged halfheartedly. “I don’t know.” Tim looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when Alex finds out I tricked him. And it will be a _when._ I’m not sure I’m prepared for that.” Jay was slumped forward in the chair. Tim had taken hold of one of the crutches again, and looked the tiniest bit sympathetic.

      “Well, what can you _do?”_ Tim said. “The cat’s out of the bag. I’m sure Alex saw that video and he knows and honestly, if he’s as big of a threat as you seem to _think_ he is, I’m not sure I want to be involved. I’d rather just try and go back to living a semi-normal life, without having to worry about some creep I knew in college once attempting to break my leg again _or worse._ If you were smart, you’d do the same.” There were a million things Jay wanted to say, to protest with. “But he found me,” Jay tried, desperate, “And if wants to he could probably find _you,_ too. I don’t… _know_ what’s wrong with Alex or why he’s doing this but if you’re already involved this much I _doubt_ you… going back and trying to live a “semi-normal life” or whatever would stop him.”

            Tim sighed, obviously frustrated but seeing Jay’s point. “Well, I _guess_ what I have to do then is at least start by figuring out what Alex’s deal is. Start from… the beginning of the story, or whatever. If you’ve recorded _that_ much you could show me where he comes into all of this.” Jay nodded, trying not to be overeager. Tim partnering up with him was more than he could have hoped for—although he _did_ miss Ammon, and wondered when he might get a chance to talk with the man again. Jay tried to clear his thoughts. “When I was still in college a couple years ago, Alex told me he was going to scrap his movie Marble Hornets and _burn_ the tapes. I asked for them,” Jay began, as he opened his YouTube channel. “But he had also recorded… himself, just, doing everyday things.” Tim narrowed his eyes at Jay. “Kinda like you.” Jay clicked on the video titled “Introduction”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this chapter took so long! What with finals and getting ready for the holidays and all. Plus we wanted to make sure Tim was in-character; You have MaskyIsNotAProxy to thank for that!
> 
> We also received some LOVELY fanart we'd like to share:  
> http://emetophoria.tumblr.com/post/153143222772/i-was-going-to-draw-more-but-this-is-loosely  
> http://emetophoria.tumblr.com/post/153451402247/put-that-back-where-it-came-from
> 
> And here's a thank you note for over 100 kudos!  
> https://68.media.tumblr.com/2da9634b6d545a5827d9d54f5bab41ed/tumblr_inline_oguy2vTELG1qirpie_540.jpg
> 
> (we don't know how to format links on ao3, apologies)


	15. Catching Up

            “’Pretty nice once you got past the mask’, huh?” Tim said dryly. Jay shifted very, _very_ uncomfortably. “Why exactly are you trying to defend him when he was _stalking you in your own home?”_ They had just watched entry eighteen and nineteen. Jay didn’t have an explanation other than “raging crush” and “stalking isn’t so bad”; neither of which he wanted to say to Tim. In reality, Jay thought Ammon being in his home was a natural thing for Ammon, and Jay probably would have done the same were he in Ammon’s place and needing to know more about someone, which was… _not_ a normal answer. “Well… you saw that _thing,_ and what it does,” Jay said awkwardly. “I’m not exactly living under normal circumstances. I’ll take the friends I can get.” He wondered if Ammon could hear him or would remember that, even if Tim was there at the moment.

            Tim narrowed his eyes. “Look, I appreciate you trying to convince me that I’m not the one doing those weird, messed-up things, or you trying to defend… I don’t know, my other half or whatever, but _that’s not normal._ You were just going to _live_ with your stalker and _pretend_ that everything was okay?” Jay tugged anxiously on the bottom of his sweatshirt. “I know it’s not _normal,”_ He huffed quietly. “I told you, nothing _about_ this is normal.” He was frustrated that Tim couldn’t see his point. His life hadn’t been _normal_ since he started watching those tapes to try and find Alex—and possibly, since he couldn’t remember half the things that had happened even in the earlier tapes— _before_ that. Any meaning his life had had dissolved into figuring out what was going on with the tapes. And Jay was _perfectly fine_ with that, however _not normal_ it may be.

            After stewing in sullen silence for a few moments, Jay said, “Let’s just watch the rest of the entries to get you up to speed with what I know. Nothing about the situation is normal, I know that, _you_ know that, but if you just try to watch the other entries maybe things will make a _little_ more sense. I don’t know.” Tim muttered “Alright, fine,” and Jay started playing the next entry. For the most part Tim refrained from commenting. Jay suspected he was waiting until the end to share his thoughts, but that was fine by him. Tim _did_ look like he was about to say something after Entry ###### but Jay quickly said “Totheark’s the only one who uploads videos like that, not Ammon,” so Tim settled for looking at Jay like he was crazy instead.

            Tim’s eyes seemed to widen in fear after watching Entry #25, however. Jay didn’t blame him, not really—after all, Jay’s _apartment_ had been burned down. Tim was probably afraid whoever was involved would come after him, too. Jay paused the playlist. He thought for a moment. “I can’t believe that actually happened,” he admitted. Jay’s brain felt like what happens when there’s a droning sound and you don’t realize it was there until it stops. For a moment, however brief, the static was gone. “I guess it… didn’t hit me as hard since I was already living in hotels at that point,” He said quietly. “I should have known there was no going back from there on out.”

            He looked hesitantly over at Tim. There was a chance after just seeing that entry Tim wouldn’t stick with him, not even for a little bit. That he might just walk away and take any sense of friendship or partnership with him, and Jay would be alone once more in his battle. Strangely enough, at least so it seemed to Jay, Tim’s eyes reflected sympathy. “I guess I can see what you mean about things not being normal,” He said after a moment. “That’s pretty intense. And if you _had_ been treating it like it was normal you might not have made it out of there because you’d have been in the building,” Tim reasoned. He took a deep breath. “There’s only four more entries after this,” Jay offered.

             They watched Entry #26. Tim seemed surprised that Jay had wanted to quit. Jay supposed it was true he didn’t act like that anymore. Tim narrowed his eyes at the tape Alex had sent. “So _that’s_ how you got dragged back in,” Tim muttered. Jay didn’t reply; they were almost caught up, anyways. They also watched TTA’s video “Secrets”. The whole thing took about two full hours to watch. Between waking up, freaking out, and watching all the entries, it was now the afternoon. “And now you’re caught up,” Jay said matter-of-factly. “So… take some time to process that information and, do whatever you want with it, I guess,” he finished lamely.

            “Alright, well, I’m definitely going to need time to process all that,” Tim stated. “And, no offense, but I can’t do that in a hotel room with somebody else around. I’m gonna go outside and smoke. I’ll come back in once I’ve figured things out.” Jay froze for a second, but then nodded. “Alright,” He said. As Tim got his crutches and headed out the door, Jay added “Thanks for… watching the entries, and trying to understand, or whatever.” Tim paused for a second. “A lot of it relates to me, too,” He said. “It’s just gonna take a bit to understand.” Jay nodded again as Tim left the room.

            Jay looked at the curtains, bright light barely filtering through them. He still had the rest of the day ahead of him. He sighed. The best thing to do now would probably be… tell his twitter followers he’s okay and, since the cat’s out of the bag anyways, like Tim had said, maybe compile a YouTube video explaining things. Jay frowned. Maybe he should hold off on uploading it, though. Alex knew things now for sure, but it might be best to withhold as much information as possible from him until they figured out their next move. Jay ignored the strange feelings in his gut and the strange, fuzzy feeling in his head, and sat down and got to work.

 

* * *

 

 

            Jay was startled out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He had long been done with reassuring his twitter followers and compiling an entry, but that hadn’t stopped him from staring blankly at the screen for—about an hour, he realized. It had been about four total since they had finished watching the entries. “It’s me,” came Tim’s voice from the door. “Coming,” Jay called, voice a little rough. It occurred to him that he hadn’t really had anything to eat or drink yet that day. “Pretty long smoke,” Jay said as he opened the door. “No kidding.” Tim came back into the room and flopped down (not even carefully, despite his leg), on the chair in the corner. There was a very awkward moment of silence.

           “So, what are _you_ gonna do now?” Tim asked suddenly, and Jay was taken aback. “Me?” Tim nodded, quirking his eyebrows. “Well, I guess I’m gonna… wait on Alex, again. I know _totheark_ probably has something planned though I just don’t know _what,_ and, well… I can’t really do anything else until I have any more clues. And I can’t do that without seeing how Alex reacts. Although his reaction to this might be pretty _telling_ to say the least.” Tim nodded again, slower this time. “Alright.” For some reason the lackluster answer made Jay mad. “Well, what about _you_ then? I mean, _you’re_ the one I’m waiting on an answer from.”

            “I guess… I dunno. I mean even with four hours or so under my belt it’s still a lot to think about. Neither you _nor I_ should be rushing into anything headfirst, especially since we know what Alex is capable of. But also, I think for the most part it’s a tomorrow problem. I know _I_ haven’t eaten all day and I get the feeling you haven’t either.” Jay felt his stomach silently agree. “And personally, I’ll think better with a little more rest and some energy. I’ll… spend the night here I guess, since there’s no point in going anywhere else just yet. We’ll talk about everything tomorrow. I think it’s safe to say we have a little while before Alex acts, anyways.” Jay nodded hesitantly. “Alright, that… sounds like a plan, I guess.”

            In reality, the idea made Jay a little mad. He was suddenly stuck with _Tim_ now and Tim was _barely_ cooperating with him. Even with the effort it took, it was easier to communicate with Ammon— _Ammon._ Jay felt his heart flip a little and then sink again as he remembered that he had _no idea_ when Ammon might be coming back. Tim was… Jay begrudgingly admitted that Tim was okay, though. And it was nice to look at another human face. But the thought of Tim leaving sent Jay’s brain buzzing and feeling like static. Without Ammon, without Tim even, could he do it? Could he do any of it? Was he really prepared for what Alex might or might not do? Jay wasn’t sure. Tim was right about one thing, though— _man_ was he hungry. “Fast food, then?” Jay asked. Tim rolled his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while for this one! We do know where we're going but getting there might take a while. Unrelated, but also today is MaskyIsNotAProxy's birthday! Now they are very old. (But still A++) >:33c


	16. Break

     Jay woke up with a soft white-noise buzzing in the back of his brain. It was a little irritating, but it was something he’d grown used to since he started this whole “Marble Hornets” fiasco with those tapes. Groaning a little, he rolled out of bed and started his morning routine. His brain and eyes protested, still nagging him for sleep, but it was morning, and Jay knew from experience that trying to go back to bed was futile. Still, he felt like something was missing. He tried pushing the feeling aside-- until he came out of the bathroom and  _ froze.  _ The room was completely empty. Tim-- and Ammon-- were gone.

Panic set in, and for a few seconds, Jay wasn’t thinking at all. Then his camera was in his hand and he was on Tim’s side of the room-- his bag of things was still there. But that hardly registered. For some reason, Jay was  _ furious.  _ Tim couldn’t just  _ leave.  _ He  _ couldn’t!  _ Because-- Jay blanked. The camera whirred. Because  _ why?  _ Jay realized Tim couldn’t have driven away, anyway, because his car was still at the abandoned house.  _ We still need to get his car back,  _ Jay thought distractedly. But that meant Tim must have walked, and he couldn’t have gotten far. Jay rushed across the room again and opened the door wide-- only to nearly smack face-first into Tim.

“T-Tim!” Jay sputtered, and Tim raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay…?” Tim asked cautiously, obviously a little startled. “Yeah, I just,” Jay shuffled a bit, trying to act like he hadn’t been about to run out the door after Tim, “Thought you had left or something.” Tim gave Jay an inquisitive look, then gestured for Jay to move aside so he could get back into the room, leaning on his crutches and favoring his good leg. Jay obliged. “Uh, no? I was just outside having a smoke. And I grabbed some breakfast real quick.”

“Oh. Yeah, that uh, that makes sense.” Jay was trying as hard as he could to be nonchalant, but his brain was still just-barely buzzing with white noise. “I mean, you left your stuff here, so I figured that you probably hadn’t gone  _ far--”  _ Tim’s eyes widened. “My…  _ what?”  _ Jay froze. “Your… bag of stuff…?” Tim narrowed his eyes in confusion. Jay walked around to Tim’s side of the room and held it up. “You know, shirts, pants, underwear I hope…  _ stuff?”  _

Tim sat down on his bed, propping his leg up with a sharp inhale, and gingerly took the bag from Jay, and opened it to peer inside. “This is definitely  _ my  _ stuff,” he conceded, sounding concerned. “Where did you get this?” Jay hadn’t thought this through. Under any other circumstances, he would have been tempted to lie and say Ammon had had it with him, but he was still too out of it to lie even compulsively. “Ammon and I went to your house so he wouldn’t have to wear the same clothes all the time,” Jay admitted sheepishly. “Not that he seemed to mind, but I figured it was better in the long run…” Jay trailed off looking at Tim’s face.

“You went to my  _ house?!?”  _ Tim asked, and Jay severely regretted not lying. “It’s technically his house too I guess, but yeah, it  _ was  _ kind of weird being in your house without you technically being there.” Tim gave him a look. “Yeah, it’s pretty weird  _ knowing  _ you’ve been in my house without me ‘technically being there,’ too.” He shot back. Jay shuffled uncomfortably and Tim let out a deep sigh. “Okay, well, whatever, that’s definitely my stuff. How did you even  _ get  _ to my house?”

“Ammon drove,” Jay admitted, which caused Tim to quirk an eyebrow. “Really? I was kind of under the impression that the mask was glued to his face.” Jay let out an awkward laugh. “Yeah, I thought so too. But I guess not.” Tim thought for a moment. “Did  _ you  _ pack the bag, then?” Jay sputtered. “Me? No-- no. Ammon did. He’s a lot more capable than he might appear just on film I guess.” Tim narrowed his eyes. “Right.  _ Ammon.  _ Okay, well, what did  _ you  _ do the whole time he was packing, then? You don’t really strike me as the type to just sit around and wait patiently, twiddling your thumbs or whatever.” Jay’s ears flushed a bit in embarrassment at that.

“I don’t know, I just kind of… looked around, I guess,” Jay admitted, which, hey, wasn’t a  _ total  _ lie. More of a lie by omission than anything else, and really, despite even showing him the tapes it was probably the most honest Jay had been since Tim first woke up. “Like, obviously I didn’t go through your  _ drawers  _ or anything.” Tim stiffened, “And just what were you looking  _ for? _ What did you think you were gonna find, huh? More clues for those little detective videos of yours?” Jay’s face burned. “N-no! Not, no, I didn’t mean looking around like  _ that!  _ Just,”

Jay hesitated, while Tim waited not-so-patiently for a response. “Just… looked around, I don’t know. I just walked around.” Tim narrowed his eyes, like he didn’t fully believe Jay, but didn’t think he was completely lying, either. He huffed, and started rummaging through the bag. “Sure, alright.  _ If you say so _ ,” Tim said, clearly not convinced. Jay just stood there awkwardly. What else was he  _ supposed  _ to do? There wasn’t much he  _ could--  _ convincing Tim of anything seemed harder than anything else he had done so far. Though, to be fair, he didn’t really  _ remember  _ what he  _ had  _ done.

Tim was still anxiously looking through his clothes when his eyes caught something else in the bag. He pulled out his car keys. “Car keys, huh?” He muttered, and Jay held his breath. He could see where  _ this  _ was going. “I don’t think I saw my car in the parking lot, though-- at least I think I would have noticed.” Tim scrunched his face up and looked at Jay. “Jay,  _ where’s my car?”  _ Jay let out his breath. “It’s--” He sighed in defeat. “It’s near the abandoned house where Ammon attacked Alex and you-- both-- got your leg broken.” Tim stared at him, but reflexively put a hand on his casted leg. “Uh-huh. And do you know how to  _ get  _ there?” He asked, standing up again like he was ready to go  _ right then. _

Jay nodded. “I think so, anyways,” he mumbled. “At least I know the way from here. I'm assuming you want to go and get it, which, y'know, makes sense, but...” he trailed off as his eyes wandered to Tim's cast, “But?” Tim prompted, bringing Jay's attention back to the man's face. “B-but your leg! Don't you think you should be resting it instead of rushing out to get your car?  _ Doesn’t it hurt? _ ” The keys jingled in Tim's hand as he fidgeted with them. “I’m fine. And I  _ will _ rest my leg,  _ once I've gotten my car _ .” Jay opened his mouth to argue, but Tim spoke first. “It's just driving, Jay, I'll be fine.” Jay sighed, frustrated. Was Ammon  _ ever _ this stubborn? He was really beginning to miss the comparative  _ ease _ of taking care of the masked man, not to mention the man himself.

     Tim had decided they were to get his car as soon as possible, but wanted to shower and change first, leaving Jay alone in the room. The sound of running water from the bathroom mingled with the ever-present buzzing in his head as he detached his camera from its perch on the tripod between the beds and placed it, for now, on his bed. From there Jay spotted Ammon's mask lying face-down on the floor between Tim's bed and the nightstand. “So that's where it went” he muttered as he knelt down to pick it up. As soon as he turned it over in his hands to look at the now all-too-familiar 'face' Jay felt a strong mixture of emotions—his stomach tying itself in knots, and his ears beginning to burn—similar to that early morning just before Tim woke up.  _ TIM! _ He couldn't push it away any longer, the thoughts he'd had while trying to sort out exactly what he was feeling in regards to Ammon…

     Jay had unknowingly begun to pace the floor, mask still in hand, mind swirling with thoughts. Having a crush on Ammon was one thing, but  _ Tim _ too? Admittedly, Jay  _ did _ like to look at him, and it felt  _ different _ than looking at Ammon—despite it being the same face. Suddenly another thought took hold:  _ Does Ammon know? _ He had been so sure that Ammon liked him back without even needing to ask, what if having a crush on Tim as well would ruin his chance with the masked man? Jay sighed. No. Ammon was amazingly intuitive, but he wasn't a mind-reader, and, he wasn't even there at present. But he couldn't confess this to Tim. Not yet. They had practically just met, and Jay felt from the way Tim kept himself at a distance that something like this would take time.

The bathroom door clicked open, Jay turned around to see Tim limp into the room. “What's that?” Tim asked, grabbing his crutches. Jay looked down at the mask “It’s, uh, it's Ammon's mask, I found it on the floor.” Tim nodded, “You gonna keep it?” The question floored Jay,  _ keep it? Of course _ they were keeping it,  _ what else _ would they do with it? “Um, yeah” Jay replied awkwardly. He moved to set the mask down on the nightstand, then returned to his original spot, grabbing his camera from his bed as he passed. 

“Ready to go?” Jay asked, powering up his camera. Tim made his way across the room to his bed, grabbed his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. “Yeah” he replied as he awkwardly crutched back to where Jay stood. “Wait, why are you bringing your bag?” Jay couldn't help but point his camera directly at the bag in question. Tim sighed “Look, Jay, there's no easy way to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it. I'm not coming back with you.” Jay lowered his camera “What do you mean?” Tim shifted off his bad leg with a sigh. “I mean, when I get my car, that's it. I'm going home.” Jay's eyes widened. “Tim...” he tried to say something, but couldn't find any words.

     “I appreciate all you've done for me, I really do, Jay, but all of this is just too much for me. An acquaintance from college broke my leg in an abandoned house, I’m not the only one in my head, another person I  _ barely  _ know from college has been not only living with this person but  _ recording  _ literally everything-- it’s just a bit too much to handle. Look, I wish you the best with Alex, really, but you’re in over your head and, no offense, but I don’t want to be dragged down with you. I’m going back to my life while I still can.”

     Jay’s mind froze. Then it started racing. “So, what, that’s it? I just… drop you off at your car and we never see each other again?” Tim sighed. “Yeah, pretty much. Look, good luck with… all of  _ this.  _ And try not to get yourself killed. But that’s gonna be it, yeah. It’s just too much for me. I just want to live a  _ normal life.”  _ Jay looked at Tim, and he felt his stomach flip a little at what this meant. In the long run-- no crush, no partner, no…  _ friends. _ Just him versus Alex, and Totheark depending on the day. Jay made up his mind. “At least let me give you my number,” He pleaded. “You know, when uh… when you get to your phone. --In case something happens,” He explained.

     Tim sighed. “Yeah, sure. Just uh--” He waved his arms around. “--Write it down or something and I’ll put it in my phone later.” Jay rushed to get the notepad Ammon had used in the few times he felt like writing a word out or doodling. “Uh, here,” Jay said after a moment, and Tim folded up and pocketed the paper. “Thanks, alright. We’re going to my car, now, remember?” Jay paused, then sighed. “Yeah, to your car.” He grabbed the keys off of the table by the door and held the door open for Tim, nervously keeping an eye on the man’s leg. “Be careful,” Jay muttered, and Tim just rolled his eyes. When they managed to get in the car and Jay had put the crutches away, they sat there for a moment. With a bit of hesitation, Jay handed his camera to Tim. “Take this while I’m driving,” Jay said, and Tim grimaced but obliged.

     The drive was long and silent. Except for the occasional “I  _ think  _ we went this way--” and “You  _ think?”  _ exchange, neither of them said a word, both too lost in thought. Jay wondered what Tim was thinking about, but he was secretly glad for the silence. If it wasn’t for the silence, after all, Jay was  _ certain  _ he’d start saying things he really didn’t want to be saying-- like how paranoid he was for Tim to be leaving, or, you know,  _ his huge crush on both Tim AND Ammon.  _ Those were pretty big, but Jay wanted to keep his mouth shut. If there was even the  _ tiniest  _ chance he could get Tim to stay, even after this, he was going to take it-- and Jay was certain that blurting out he had a crush on his would-be stalker  _ and _ new roommate would  _ not  _ be the way to do it.

     Jay had pointed out the house where the Alex incident had happened as they passed it, secretly wishing Tim would want to stop for a look around— _ anything _ to prolong the inevitable of Tim's departure. But Tim had merely glanced out Jay's window with the slightest raise of an eyebrow, reminding Jay that he was  _ not interested _ in investigating and just wanted to get his car so he could leave. Finally the car rolled to a stop in front of the other abandoned house. Jay quickly exited the car and got around to the other side to get the crutches just as Tim opened his door. “Oh, uh, thanks” Tim said when Jay handed off the crutches, exchanging them for his camera, “I could've gotten those myself.” Jay fiddled with his camera in embarrassment. “Just being polite...” he trailed off, noticing Tim start to walk up the driveway.

     The car was still in its hiding place against the side of the house, from what Jay could tell as he followed Tim, camera in hand, nobody had been around since he and Ammon had been there last. “So you just left it here, then?” Tim asked, inspecting the vehicle and its surroundings. “Uh, yeah, Ammon said—” Tim cut Jay off with an exasperated sigh, “ _ Whatever. _ The car's still here and it doesn't seem damaged, that's call I care about.” Jay adjusted the camera for a better view, unsure of what else to do, “Sorry, I was just saying...” Tim took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the driver's side door, leaning the crutches against the car. Jay watched on as Tim experimentally started the car, his feelings of dread increasing as the engine turned over and the car came to life. This was it. Tim was on his way out for good and there was nothing Jay could do to make him change his mind.

     “Tim…” Jay started to say. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind all at once. Tim couldn’t leave-- there was so much he had to stay for! For Ammon, for Jay’s crush on Ammon, Jay’s crush on  _ Tim,  _ Jay needing a partner and a friend, and not wanting to be alone again-- but that was all reasons  _ Jay  _ wanted Tim to stay. He had every reason to leave. Alex breaking his leg, his broken leg, discovering there were two people in his head, discovering he had lost time, so much time-- living a normal life outside of stalkers and cameras and whatever that  _ thing  _ that showed up sometimes was. But he couldn’t leave. He couldn’t. “So, what, I guess I’ll… see you around, then?” Jay finished.

     “Yeah,” Tim said, pulling the crutches into the car, “I guess I’ll see you around.” Jay felt heartbroken. Tim leaned out of the car to grab the door, then hesitated. “If anything comes up, though, I guess I’ll see on your YouTube channel. And I’ll call you,” he said, waving the piece of paper Jay had written his number on. That was reassuring. But not much. Not much at all. “Yeah…” Jay shuffled his feet, turning away but keeping the camera on Tim for some reason. “Bye, then.” Tim shut the door and drove away. Jay watched him leave until he couldn’t see the car anymore; then he got into his own car. He didn’t remember the drive back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your love and support!!! The kudos and comments you guys leave mean so much to us. Our sincerest apologies it took so long... it's been far too busy. Sadly, I (YourCoolBroKat) had some college things come up, and we both lost track of time. As well as this we wanted to make sure we had the fic going in the direction it's supposed to. Your patience means so much to us!!! I promise we aren't abandoning this fic.


	17. Relocation

Jay closed the door to the hotel room behind and let out a long, shaky sigh from a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He stood there, back against the door, for a long time before he zoned back in. Everything felt  _ fuzzy.  _ Running his hand over his eyes and trying to clear his head, he took a look around the room and tried to figure out what to do next. Next. Right.  _ Next.  _ Jay tried to go over what was important-- what had he been  _ doing  _ before he met Tim? Or Ammon? Trying to find Amy with Alex. That’s what had started this whole thing-- or, well, started it back up again anyways. Even though that may have been compromised with the video ToTheArk had posted. First things first. Jay needed to change hotels.

Hastily, Jay began packing. In truth, there wasn’t much rush, and not even much to pack, but it gave Jay the illusion that he was  _ doing  _ something and had a  _ reason _ , so he went as fast as he could. The camera whirred as he took one last look around the room. His gaze (and camera lens) fell upon Ammon’s mask, still on the nightstand between the beds. Carefully, Jay set the camera down on the table, making sure it was at least sort of pointed toward him still. The completely empty room and Ammon’s mask on the nightstand really drove it home, and it hit Jay with a pang. Jay picked up the mask. He was  _ alone. _

And Ammon was gone. Jay let out a small sigh. Ammon was really, truly gone. There was a twisting in his gut. Surely that couldn’t be the last time he saw either Ammon  _ or  _ Tim... right? But even if it wasn’t, it was sure to be a long time before he saw either of them again. He didn’t even know what made  _ Ammon  _ wake up instead of Tim, and vice versa. But he already missed them. He missed Ammon’s ever-present gaze, he missed Tim’s snark. He missed the worry about their leg, and just the  _ feeling  _ that he wasn’t alone. Well. The feeling that he wasn’t alone, that wasn’t connected to paranoia, anyways. Jay dragged his gaze from the mask to the curtains and frowned. 

     He looked at the mask again, and brought it over to his own side of the room, carefully tucking it into his bag. The camera quickly replaced the mask in his hand, and Jay slung the bag over his shoulder. The hotel room door shut with a very final click. 

 

* * *

     Jay tried to focus on what needed to happen next while he was driving. It was hard, though, with Ammon’s mask staring at him from the passenger seat. He really  _ should  _ have just put it in the trunk, but… Jay was worried it would’ve gotten crushed. Focus. Right. The facts were this: Jay had  _ no  _ clues. No idea where Amy had gone, no idea what Alex was up to, and, more importantly, no way of knowing where to go from here. Except waiting on Alex to call again since his visit to Rosswood. But even that had been squandered by ToTheArk’s video upload-- still though, Jay didn’t want to consider that a gamestopper until he had to. There was a small chance Alex hadn’t seen it. And Jay still didn’t feel right about the whole situation with Amy. Almost like it was a wild goose chase. But that  _ couldn’t  _ be it.

     Jay glanced at the mask on the passenger seat again.  _ Focus.  _ He took a deep breath. He needed to make another video. It had been a while and the relative radio silence, so to speak, was making him antsy. It felt like everything and nothing was happening at once. But there was nothing he could make that wouldn’t reveal more than what even ToTheArk had. He had no way of talking about Ammon or Tim. No way of expressing that he missed his friends-- his  _ crushes  _ even-- and ouch, it hurt to think that his viewers probably didn’t think he even  _ had  _ friends. It was true though, for the time being. Tim had really gone his own way. For now.

     The drive was quiet—naggingly so, and it didn't help that every time Jay had to look to the right his glance was stolen by the mask. It sat there beside his camera seemingly staring up at him. The silence was uncomfortable, unlike Ammon's silence, which had become familiar; this was empty and lonesome. Jay had considered turning the radio on, but he  _ just knew _ the first station he'd tune in to would be playing some sappy love song and the was the  _ last _ thing he needed. Instead he focused on driving and the short list of things he needed to do. First on that list was check into a new hotel.   


* * *

 

  
After welcoming him in a default cheery tone, the receptionist asked “Are you checking in with us?” Jay shook his head. “I need to book a room, actually, I don't have a reservation.” It was something he said so often it felt like a script now, and he was the actor in some bad movie rehearsing his lines. “Alright, how many beds would you like?” the receptionist asked, typing away at her computer. “Tw- _ no _ . Just one. One is fine.” Jay took a breath, he could feel his ears start to burn and his stomach unsettle “ _ Just one, _ ” he repeated to himself quietly. The receptionist said something else, but Jay didn't hear her, “Sorry, what?” he asked. “I said 'Have you stayed with us before, sir?' Are you alright?” the lady at the desk looked concerned, and a few people in the lobby turned to look at Jay as well. “Yeah, I'm fine, uh, I might have, I can't remember,” Jay replied, and this was true-- all his hotel stays had started to blur into each other, he couldn't pick out chain names anymore. “Ok, I just need a little more information and you'll be all set.” Jay probably finished the check-in process in record time.

     “Maybe I should’ve picked a better hotel,” Jay muttered to himself as he briefly struggled with the key card he’d been given. Juggling a camera, your things,  _ and  _ a key wasn’t the best way to open a door. “This one doesn’t even have breakfast.” And of course, he could immediately just  _ see  _ Tim giving him an exasperated look. Jay let out a heavy sigh as he finally got the door open. He missed talking to another human being. He missed Tim’s face. Boy, he had it  _ bad,  _ in every way possible. Jay finally got in the door. He stared across the bare, impersonal bedroom. With one bed. It was going to be a very, very long wait.


	18. Reclaim

What. An.  _ Idiot.  _ A muffled, exasperated sigh could be heard. Totheark had seen, though hidden, the cars driving away from the abandoned house, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Tim had woken up and decided to bail out on Jay. No, scratch that-- they were  _ both  _ idiots. They were  _ all  _ idiots. All three of them. Jay didn’t have the  _ brains  _ to make Tim stay, Tim didn’t have the  _ guts  _ to admit he was already in too deep, and his own masked partner didn’t have the  _ sense  _ to keep on top of things himself, instead fawning over the idiot cameraman. Once again, Totheark was the only  _ smart  _ one. So he decided to take action himself.

Unlike Jay, and unlike even Alex perhaps, he wasn’t beyond waiting. Totheark was a patient man. He knew that things took time to fall into place. And so he waited-- carefully, outside Alex’s apartment, ever-observant, for a whole week. Memorizing Alex’s schedule was simple enough; the man now lived a fairly normal life outside of his ever-present paranoia and rage, (inescapable, of course; the hooded man himself could not find a way to quell it yet), so he worked a regular job. It was only a matter of time. And Totheark was fine with waiting.

While daylight hours were not his  _ favorite  _ time to operate, he wasn’t against it, and strategically it was far better than trying to sneak in while Alex was merely sleeping. The man had left for his job a half an hour ago, and Totheark had crouched in the bushes waiting, making sure there would be no coming back for a long time, before getting up. His camera was rolling, but he made sure his own face stayed out of sight. Totheark was cautious in all aspects, but he certainly wasn’t dumb. A masked person entering an apartment in broad daylight would get more than just Alex on his back, so he had, for now at least, shoved his mask into his pocket. Slowly, he stood up, and walked up to Alex’s door.

Totheark set his camera down, and casually pulled a lockpick from his pocket. It was only a few moments before he heard the  _ click  _ telling him he was done. The door to the apartment slowly swung open, and Totheark picked up his camera again and walked inside, kicking the door shut behind him. Alex’s apartment-- and Totheark had virtually all the time in the world to find what he was looking for. Well, until Alex came back at least, but that wasn’t for several more hours. Totheark wasn’t worried about it at all.

Meticulously, he began to search room by room, rummaging through drawers and tossing clothes and things aside. He haphazardly put things back where he found them-- true, he had the potential to make it look like nothing at all had happened while Alex was away, but that didn’t particularly matter to him. And besides, it was bound to rile Alex up even more if he knew. Last, Totheark entered Alex’s bedroom. Boxes were searched in-- all empty. There were also papers strewn about, drawings that the clueless cameraman Jay would have drooled over as clues, but Totheark paid them no mind. He was used to such things by now. And the messages the papers attempted to send, well, it was nothing he didn’t already know. He zoomed in on them anyways with a smirk. Jay would be turning in his sleep trying to figure it out, and the mental image was amusing.

The desk was the only place he hadn’t checked yet. Totheark looked over it and under it-- and slowly opened a small, semi-hidden drawer underneath. There was a tape inside.  _ Perfect.  _  He picked up the tape and made sure to zoom in on it, turning it this way and that. It was definitely a tape. And hopefully it was the tape he thought it was. But Totheark was rarely wrong about these things, and anyways, he had searched the rest of the apartment already. There weren’t any other tapes-- lying around, at least-- so he was content to assume he was correct. He pocketed the tape.

There was also a lighter in the drawer, placed ever so conveniently next to the tape. Not exactly what he’d call a _subtle_ implication that Alex was planning on burning the evidence. _Nice try,_ he thought, pocketing the lighter, _but not this time._ With luck, Alex would get the message. He wasn’t dumb, at least. Satisfied that he had gotten what he’d come for, Totheark strode confidently back through the apartment, not even so much as casting a sideways glance at anything else on his way. Carefully, he closed the apartment door behind him, and then simply continued walking like he was meant to be there in the first place. He kept walking long after that, pausing only to take the mask out of his pocket and put it back on. Right now, his only concern was where he was going to place the tape. After that, well, he had some video editing to do.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost, we'd like to thank all of our readers, new and old, for just being here, and for leaving such sweet comments and so many kudos! We never expected this fic to get so big, and we may sometimes not know how to reply, but we're ridiculously flattered. All of you continue to make our day! Second of all, we'd like to apologize for such a large delay in our update! Initially, this chapter was going to be partnered with the previous one, since both of them were so short. But a LOT came up on sudden notice, and in general it's been a very busy month.
> 
> But lastly, and perhaps most importantly:  
> We are never, ever, ever going to abandon this fic, we PROMISE you that. We have a full plot and a very good idea of how to get there, it's just a matter of solidifying and actually writing. Sometimes that takes longer than we want since we wind up doing a lot of fact-checking with the actual series, and making sure we're completely in-character or pacing things right, but it's still a thing that is going to be happening. Thank you for sticking with us! We have a lot of good stuff yet to come, and we are, at most, only 1/3rd of the way there.


	19. entry #30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We forgot to say last time, but the entry that corresponds to the previous chapter is Entry #50, nine minutes and fifty seconds in. Thank you for your continued patience!

    The Marble Hornets YouTube channel updated at 3:26 in the morning.

The video title read “entry #30”.

A view of an apartment building that somebody was leaving. Zooming in provided clear evidence of who that somebody was; Alex. From there, it followed Totheark into Alex’s apartment, as he rummaged about, and eventually found the tape, held up to the camera. There was a visual glitch, and it cut to what appeared to be a boarded up window. Heavily filtered text appeared in the corner overtop the image.

ANSWERS AWAIT

It read.

DO YOU TRUST

The video ended abruptly.

Three hours later, it was taken down.

* * *

 

    “Okay,” Jay said from where he sat driving to the camera in the passenger seat, “Right now I’m heading back to the abandoned house I first met Alex in. Judging by the last few bits of that video Totheark uploaded to my channel, the tape he stole is in _there_ somewhere.” Not only did Jay sound tired, but he also sounded tired of Totheark. “There weren’t any codes and the placement of the window was rather obvious, so it’s clear that he actually wants me to find this for some reason.” It was barely picked up by the camera, but under his breath and sounding rather offended he muttered an added “ _I’m not stupid.”_

    Clearly Totheark thought so, but Jay had more on his mind to think about than what Totheark thought of him. Well, it wasn’t a _top_ priority, but he was sure it played a part. There were so many questions that video had brought up. (Of course, he had saved it and then taken it down immediately, but he had tweeted a short “totheark hacked my channel again.” just in case.) For starters, _what was Alex doing with a tape in the first place?_ He’d made it _very_ clear to Jay that they should all be burned; so why keep one? It almost seemed like Totheark already knew what was on it, too-- but how? And why did he _want_ Jay to find it and watch it? TTA did say “answers await” though. “Answers await.” _Good,_ Jay thought to himself. _I’ve waited long enough for answers._

    He couldn’t help but be nervous about the other phrase though. Out of all the cryptic things TTA did, this had to be the worst. _Puzzles_ and _codes_ could be managed through dedication and logic, but trust was another matter entirely. To be frank, Jay didn’t trust Alex. Not one bit. Even though he wanted to, his gut feeling was growing worse and worse, and the ever-present paranoia certainly wasn’t helping. He _did_ trust Tim. There was just something about the man-- and Jay was certain it wasn’t just his attraction towards him-- that radiated honesty, or at least _something_ that said his heart was in the right place. Definitely. Probably. The more he thought about it the more his paranoia ate away at the feeling, so Jay forced himself to switch topics.

    Then there was the matter of Ammon. He… _wanted_ to trust Ammon. Felt almost certain he could. Felt a lot of things about the man, actually, though that in and of itself was confusing when it came to the matter of his crush on _Tim_ as well-- he was getting off-track. Ammon could be trusted-- couldn’t he? Around himself and only himself Jay felt that was probably true. But when Totheark came into the picture he wasn’t so sure. Totheark himself was… Complicated. And confusing. Smarter than Jay wanted to admit, and as much as he flaunted the enigma about himself, Jay couldn’t figure the man out. So he didn’t trust him. Not one bit. But he did trust that TTA would have the answers he sought, and that, Jay thought, was good enough for now.

    Steeling himself, Jay finally pulled into the driveway. It looked exactly the same as the last time he had been there, but still, Jay was wary. He couldn’t be too careful, after all. You could never be too careful. The plan was to go in, find the tape, and then leave as fast possible-- unless anything else of note happened, of course. Jay quickly grabbed his camera from the passenger seat and got out of the car. Caution made him want to go slow, and nerves made him want to go fast, and physically that wound up translating to Jay moving quite like an easily startled deer as he entered the house. “Hello?” Jay called hesitantly, just in case.

    There was no answer and, as he stood there listening, no noise. Satisfied, he stepped further into the house. Looking directly to the left he saw the boarded up window. “There’s the window from the video,” Jay repeated out loud to the camera (and, when he uploaded it later, the audience.) “So where’s the tape…?” Jay did a quick scan of the floor, but not too in-depth. TTA didn’t seem the type to just toss a tape on the floor and _leave,_ so that probably wasn’t where it was anyways. His eyes fell on the table he had set the camera down on when Alex-- Jay walked abruptly over to the table. There was scattered debris on it, and he methodically picked up and set it down in case it had been placed under the debris. “Not _here_ either,” he muttered to himself.

    There were also though, he noted upon further inspection, some shelves on the wall. “Maybe the… shelves will have it,” Jay reasoned. He squinted. They were pretty high up, though. Jay backpedaled until he hit the opposite wall, and zoomed in on the shelves, watching the viewfinder. _There!_ The zoom intensified before Jay zoomed back out. Small and far too rectangular to be a normal piece of debris-- it had to be the tape. Jay thought for a moment. He walked quickly over to the room Ammon had hid in just to check and make sure Totheark wasn’t hiding in there this time, and finding it empty he went back to the shelf. Jay grabbed blindly at the shelf a few times before successfully grabbing ahold of the tape, and sliding it off. He inspected it, feeling a small buzz-- A rush of adrenaline from actually getting another tape? Something that felt like static?-- He held it up briefly for the camera and then pocketed it carefully.

    Despite himself, Jay looked suspiciously around the house before rapidly walking out. He had checked the house and the other room, and had done a quick sweep of the yard before walking in, but there was still _something--_ some unshakable feeling he was being watched. He nervously put his hand on the pocket that had the tape as a reflex. Still there. He was half-jogging out of nerves by the time he opened the car door, and the camera took its place in the passenger seat. “So, I’ve got the tape Totheark wanted me to have,” Jay said once the doors were closed and locked, waving it in front of the camera again, “But I still don’t know what’s on it.” He took a deep, full-bodied sigh. “And I’m not sure I _want_ to know what’s on it.” He inspected the tape absent-mindedly, no longer noticing the camera. Without another word, he pocketed it and started the car.

* * *

 

    That was where Jay ended the footage for his new entry. He had only found two abnormalities when he was editing; there was a slight tear in the footage when he grabbed the tape. And glitching, with soft static noise, when he left. He made a mental note to himself, for what it was worth (he had already forgotten far too much) to never go back to _that_ house again either, and continued his editing, albeit with a bit more paranoia. Along with putting Totheark’s video at the beginning, as well as a brief explanation (that he had been hacked, to put it simply-- it made him _so mad_ but there was nothing he could do except change the password again _)_ he had decided on one last, crucial thing. Bringing up the text option, he hesitated, and then added “I’m not sure I’m ready to find out what’s on this tape.” Next line. “I still want to trust Alex, so I’m going to wait. Watching this could be more dangerous than anything else I’ve done.”

     He didn’t still trust Alex, actually, but he wanted Alex to think so, and, more importantly, he wanted to see if he could get Alex to tell him anything. The second part of that statement, however, wasn’t a lie. He was… scared. Scared of the tape that _Totheark_ had gone out of his way to fetch for Jay. It was suspicious at _best,_ and at worst, could probably lead to… He didn’t want to think about that. Not from Alex, even if he really _couldn’t_ trust the man anymore. Jay longed for the presence of someone he _could_ trust-- despite himself and the reality that he didn’t want to drag anyone else into this, he wished that Tim or Ammon could be there with him. As the video finished processing, he stared into blank space and thought of nothing. On Friday, May 14th, 2010, at 8:54PM, the _real_ Entry #30 was uploaded.


	20. Entry #31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entries this chapter corresponds to are Entry #38 and Entry #50. However, several changes have been made.

     Jay hadn’t heard from Tim. Jay hadn’t heard from Ammon. Jay hadn’t even heard from Totheark. Given that he had received the tape TTA had left for him, that was… surprising.  _ Concerning.  _ So concerning that despite his overwhelming urge to watch the tape, he had resisted. Despite his pride, he would admit it-- he was  _ scared  _ of that tape. Scared of seeing… that  _ thing  _ on it, and having that thing  _ see him back.  _ Okay, sure, he hadn’t seen it since the tape where Ammon had rescued him-- but that didn’t make it any less daunting. It could be a trap. TTA was, of course, trying to get Jay to find the ark, whatever  _ that  _ was, and he had reason to believe that man would use any means necessary. He had, however, heard from Alex.

Alex had called him a little over a week after he had found the tape. “Jay, we need to talk. I think it’s important. Meet me at Rosswood Park on the 24th. I’ll be there by six. Don’t watch the tape, either. I’ll explain it then. --And stay in the parking lot this time. _ ”  _ Jay had opened his mouth to reply, and Alex had hung up. So now it was the 24th, a Monday at 6:07, and Jay was leaning against his car with camera in hand, waiting for Alex. He had spent the past two weeks changing hotels, staring at the tape, and waiting for Alex. Jay was considering walking around just to spite him when a white car pulled into the parking lot beside him.  _ There he was.  _ Finally.

“Sorry I took so long,” Alex said, not sounding at all sorry, though not to Jay’s surprise, “I just got out of work.” Jay immediately felt like an idiot for being worried. Of course Alex had a real job and a life. The sun being so low had begun to make Jay paranoid, but then again, the sun being out had never saved him from that  _ thing  _ before. “Alright,” Jay agreed sheepishly. He was going to gather his thoughts to ask Alex about the tape, but he realized with a small start that the man was walking away from him. “Alex?” He asked, startled. “You ready?” Alex asked, and Jay narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I guess so,” He answered, a little unsure. He followed Alex out of habit, but paused passing the car. 

Jay zoomed his camera on the contents of Alex’s passenger seat. A gopro, and… something. Catching up to Alex, he did the logical thing: “What’s that… satchel...  _ thing  _ in your passenger seat?” Alex didn’t miss a beat. “It’s a camera case, and don’t worry about it.” A camera case. “Alright,” Jay muttered under his breath. He decided he would wait for Alex to speak first. It was the only way he’d get answers-- pushing clearly wasn’t the solution. They had entered the woods, and after about fifteen minutes or so of walking in silence Jay was getting nervous. “How far in are we going?” He asked-- surely  _ that  _ was an acceptable question. “Pretty far,” Alex responded. “Hope you came ready to walk.” He hadn’t. He was suspicious.

“Well,” Jay quipped, looking back at the stretch of woods behind him, “Don’t really have much of a choice now, do I?” Alex didn’t reply to that. The silence was far too loud and nerve-wracking. Jay placed his hand ever so gently overtop of his pocket, and, feeling the knife he had brought with him still there, quietly let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. “Look, Alex,” Jay began, slightly irritated but trying to hold back, “As much as I..  _ love  _ nature walks, it’s late and you still haven’t told me what we’re doing or  _ where  _ we’re going. I’d just really appreciate an explanation.” Jay finished, in what he hoped was a firm tone. “We’re taking a walk,” Alex said, “Because I wanted to show you something.” 

“I thought we were here to talk about the tape,” Jay replied nervously. “We are,” Alex quipped. “Just…” He sighed, and turned around while walking to face Jay. “Look. That tape is  _ dangerous,  _ okay? I didn’t want to see what was on it, and I know  _ you  _ don’t either. You made that mistake the first time you took tapes from me. So do yourself a favor, and  _ save  _ yourself from it. Just… give the tape back to me. It’ll be fine. I promise.” Jay hesitated. Alex sounded so…  _ sincere.  _ But there was…  _ something…  _ “I didn’t bring it  _ with  _ me,” He replied honestly. “I thought we were just going to, I don’t know…” Jay shrugged. “ _ Talk  _ about it. What’s on it that could possibly be worse than anything I’ve  _ already  _ seen?” Alex shot Jay a look of concealed anger. He turned back around and kept walking forward. “Just don’t watch it. Okay? It’s better for everyone if you don’t. I’m not going to say any more on the matter, because I shouldn’t have to.”

Jay rolled his eyes. Alex sounded just like an angry parent using circular reasoning to win their argument. “Yeah, sure, fine, I-- I won’t.” Jay sighed. Actually, he might. He was going to have to think it over. It was another forty minutes before either of them spoke again. Finally, Jay spoke, irritated. “It’s getting dark, Alex. Also I have… no idea where we are.” He waited as patiently as possible for Alex to reply. “We’re almost there,” He replied. Jay clutched his camera tiredly. “Right.” He hesitated again. “So where is ‘there’?” 

     Alex continued walking. “How much do you know about this area?” He asked suddenly. “Nothing,” Jay replied uncertainly. Alex went on as if Jay wasn’t even there. “When I first moved here, I heard a story that back in the eighteen hundreds they thought this place was blessed because everything would grow so fast,” He continued, reminiscent. “They would take their worst criminals-- murderers and child molesters-- and put them on trial before God out here.” Jay fidgeted, paranoia bubbling up. “The idea was they would get stretched out, kind of like a rack. They never fed or gave them water though, so, they would just die of dehydration.”

     “Why are you telling me this?” Jay asked, mildly panicked. Something in his brain felt like white noise. The story mixed with their surroundings and the near-dark did not mix will with his regular paranoia. “They never cut down the bodies,” Alex continued, not answering Jay, “They would just… burn the tree with them still on it.” Jay looked up at the tall trees, almost searching for ones with burn marks. There weren’t any. He let out a small hiss of frustration at Alex. “They stopped doing it though after a kid went missing--”  _ Something about this was wrong. There was too much white noise--  _ “And he finally turned up in the area where they would do the trials.” Alex finally paused his walking, turning and looking thoughtfully at a tree with larger branches. “He had been… Dismembered and strung up.”

     Rolling his eyes, Jay angled the camera towards the tree to see if there was anything to be found. There wasn’t. Enough was enough. “So is this why we’re out here?” He asked snidely, annoyed and  _ so  _ done with Alex. “To, uh, look at trees and tell  _ spooky ghost stories?”  _ Alex shot Jay a strange look. “C’mere.” Jay mentally sagged. There was no getting to the man. “Why?” Alex walked around the large tree and off the path. “Just c’mere.” There was  _ no way  _ Jay was going off the path with Alex talking like that. He glanced down at the camera and realized it was his lifesaver. “Wait, hold on a second--” He set the camera on the ground. “There’s only about a minute left on this tape-- I gotta change it real quick.” Alex walked back over to him.  


     The few seconds it took to change the tape gave Jay some time to breathe and, more importantly,  _ think. _ “Look, Alex,” He began as he stood back up, “It’s getting…  _ really  _ dark in here. We should probably just, leave and come back some other time when we have more daylight.” The strange nagging fog in Jay’s brain wasn’t going away, and he kept looking around frantically. Something. He turned to Alex. “Yeah…?” He asked, looking for reassurance and an excuse to book it as fast as possible out of there. Alex was silent for a moment, considering. “...Alright,” He finally conceded. “But next time… Bring Tim with you. I want him to see it too.” Jay’s heart skipped a beat.

     “...Tim.” Jay echoed in confusion. “What do you mean?” Alex shrugged. “I figure you’ve been  _ keeping tabs on him _ since you decided to take him to the hospital. You and I... both know how to find people we want to find.” There was something in Alex’s voice that Jay was picking up but couldn’t quite place. “So I’m just saying. Next time, find a way to bring Tim.” Alex gave Jay a hard stare. Jay felt like scoffing, but just sort of shuffled instead. “Yeah, alright. ...This the way out?” He asked Alex. “Yeah.” Jay looked back. Alex was still staring up at a tree. “...Come  _ on,”  _ he urged. “I’m gonna stay here a little bit longer,” Alex replied. Well, whatever. If he wanted to stay in some creepy woods in the dark that wasn’t any of Jay’s concern. “Alright, whatever. I’m leaving!” Jay called as a final warning to Alex, who just waved him off. Jay turned, and started walking back.

* * *

     He was still deep in the woods when he heard it. A loud sound, like the crash of an animal--  _ or a person--  _ through branches. Jay whipped around. Nothing. He kept walking. For a long while, he wasn’t even sure he was going the right direction. He kept casting glances over his shoulder, the camera ever following his gaze. Irrational, paranoid, but  _ he knew he was being followed.  _ It was getting darker. Harder to see, and there wasn’t anybody he saw yet, but it was something Jay  _ knew.  _ He walked on, hesitantly. Using the zoom function on his camera to see what he couldn’t-- through the trees, up the hill-- Wait.  _ Totheark!  _ That hooded creep had been following him!

     TTA booked it. “H-hey!  _ HEY!”  _ Jay yelled, furious, and chased after the man. After a couple of seconds of running, he’d  _ lost  _ him. Jay looked around, contemplating his situation. Well, if he wasn’t lost before, he sure was now. He huffed, twisting and turning. And then it was straight back to running. It didn’t matter that he had no idea where he was anymore. That wasn’t the point.  _ Where had Totheark gone?  _ Jay wasn’t going to let him get away. Jay tried to ignore his shallow breathing, the pounding of his feet that was getting heavier and heavier.

     Then he saw Totheark again. Just… standing, and, with a twist of outrage filling his gut, Jay realized he was  _ waiting.  _ Standing and waiting for Jay just outside of a strange, metal tunnel. “H-hey,” Jay wheezed, immediately trying to run up to him again, “ _ Stop.”  _ TTA disappeared on the outside of the other end of the tunnel just as Jay reached the closest end. Jay made his way up the rocks, before his exhaustion and clumsiness kicked in and he tripped. That wasn’t going to stop him though-- that  _ wasn’t going to stop him.  _ Not if Jay could help it. Struggling to pick himself up, he nearly forgot, but snatched up his camera. 

     Jay stood at the end of the tunnel, struggling to breathe.  _ “Stop!”  _ He tried again, and his only answer was a strange echo from out of the tunnel. The tunnel was... completely dark inside. His camera wasn’t registering any light at all from it, and surprisingly, Jay hardly could either. Just the light from the sun at the end. He walked slowly forward into it, breathing hard.  _ “Stop running!”  _ Jay yelled, and his voice sounded almost like static, almost too loud, from the echo that greeted him. He was filled with rage, and the tunnel amplified it, making his echo sound louder and meaner than he would without it. “What?!? What do you  _ want?”  _ He yelled again, enraged. He turned. Darkness and then the tunnel end. He turned around again. Darkness… and then the tunnel end. He was halfway through.

     Jay decided to catch his breath at the end he had come from. The tunnel seemed almost endless, and he had been running far too long. But now he’d sat down long enough. Blankly, Jay picked up his camera. Headed straight into the tunnel without a hint of hesitation. That’s about the point that static overtook the camera.

* * *

     Jay sighed, running his hand through his hair. It was now 5:07 in the morning. He hadn’t slept-- he’d stay up all night as soon as he’d found he was back in his hotel room, and edited the tapes he had. He was in the process of explaining the fact that some footage,  _ and some of his memories,  _ were missing. He decided to tack it onto the end of the video. “There’s twelve minutes left of footage on this tape.” He paused, sighing. “However, I don’t remember anything past encountering TTA at the end of the tunnel.” Jay took a moment to think. “I think that thing might have showed up. I don’t know why, though. Did TTA purposefully lead me there so I would run into it?” Actually, Jay didn’t believe that last bit. Alex might, though.

     In fact, Jay was counting on that. “Also, why did Alex want to stay in the woods by himself when it was getting so dark?” Jay typed. “I don’t know what he’s talking about when he said I could find Tim whenever I wanted, either. What did he mean?” Jay knew exactly what Alex meant, but there was  _ no way  _ he wanted to let on that he had been with Tim to his viewers. Alex  _ couldn’t  _ know that though. It wasn’t possible. Jay’s fingers hovered over his keyboard. “He did tell me not to watch the tape, though. I think I’m going to listen to him. It seems dangerous, and whatever it is, I certainly don’t trust what TTA is planning, especially not after this.” He had every intention of watching that tape. As soon as he got some sleep and settled his nerves. Okay, the last part might take a while. But there was something  _ wrong  _ with Alex. And maybe that video could tell him what.

Jay uploaded Entry #31.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We would once again like to thank you for your continued patience! (Chapters that correspond to entries tend to be harder to write because we have to be a lot more careful in how we change things.) Though it's been a busy few months, we've decided to crack down on this fic-- we have some VERY exciting chapters planned that are coming up. Things are starting to look less and less like canon, aren't they? We can't wait to be able to show you what lies ahead for everyone involved! Thanks for sticking with us! <3


	21. The Tape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entry this tape corresponds to is Entry #51.

    The plan for the day was simple: Watch the tape, wrack through his brain and try to figure out how it fit in with everything else, and then bail. Change hotels again, just to be safe. Jay hesitated for a moment. He opened twitter. “I’m probably making a mistake, but I have to do this. Wish me luck.” Then he pressed play. The tape started like most others, actually. It was footage-- “B-roll,” as Alex said in the tape itself-- from when Alex was still shooting Marble Hornets instead of his life. It appeared that way at first, at least. Featuring Brian-- Jay was sure that even the straightest of guys had to have at least a small crush on him. 

    Brian was a ray of sunshine, and it showed in his laugh and his smile and even his banter. Alex was being cryptic, of course, but he normally was. More so than usual today though. Extremely insistent, and ignoring Brian’s nervousness for some reason. Alex didn’t  _ really  _ think that footage was good, right? The more nervous Brian looked though, the more Jay began to realize that Alex  _ must  _ have had ulterior motives. He got the feeling something  _ terrible  _ was going to happen. And then the tape glitched out and everything went to hell. Jay’s paranoia flared.   _ That thing  _ appeared, and Brian was gone _.  _ Even in a tape, seeing it felt  _ wrong.  _ Brian picked up the camera, but everything still felt off. And where was Alex? And then--

Jay’s gut clenched in distress upon seeing Tim curled up on the floor. Tim! Even though Jay knew he was okay  _ now,  _ it still hurt to see him in pain. This was wrong. Everything about this was wrong. Something was at play here that Jay had somehow been missing, and he could barely comprehend it due to the sheer amount of  _ fear  _ and  _ paranoia  _ the tape was radiating. And Brian, too. Jay hadn’t known Brian too well, but… he was so  _ nice.  _ He had been Tim’s friend, and Alex’s, and even sort of Jay’s on some level. Jay had zero doubt about who the person who picked the camera up at the end was. The person who had left everyone for dead, for worse than dead with that  _ thing  _ to take them. It was Alex.

It was all Alex. He had done that to his friend, Brian. And to Tim. Had he done it to Seth? To Sarah? And…  _ Amy.  _ Jay suddenly felt as nauseous as he was paranoid, realizing he hadn’t seen, well,  _ any  _ of them around since Alex had left. That was no coincidence. Whatever Alex’s motives were, whatever game he was playing now, he already knew where Amy was. And when Alex had said, in Entry #22, that everyone was  _ gone…  _ Did he know what he had done, even? Or maybe he knew what he was talking about. And he knew that they were all gone because he had been the one who’d left them, in abandoned buildings, for that  _ thing.  _

His brain screaming at him to move, Jay reopened twitter and winced as his phone blew up. Almost everyone was concerned about him, and demanded to know what was going on. Well, he needed to reassure people that he hadn’t gotten himself killed yet if nothing else. He quickly wrote: “Update: To all my followers, I’m sorry for freaking you out. I’m fine. It’s done now.” There. Perfect. Jay threw everything he had into his bag and checked out of the hotel as fast as he could. He didn’t know where he was going to drive, but he needed to get out of where he was,  _ now.  _ It wasn’t safe to stay.

After he had put about half an hour of distance between where he was before and where he was now, Jay felt at least somewhat calmer. Not safe, far from it, but it was better. For now. Jay had had some time to think, though, and he thought about what Alex had asked when they had gone for that short little walk in the woods of theirs. Alex had said to bring Tim. But  _ why?  _ If what happened to Tim in the tape Jay had seen was any indication, the reason wasn’t anything good. It meant Tim was in danger, no matter if he was with Jay or not, and something about that made Jay  _ furious.  _

    Alex had no right to threaten Tim. No right at all. Tim didn’t deserve to be _left_ in a building like that, coughing up a lung, and he didn’t deserve to be… to be _hunted down_ because he was _kinda_ _sorta_ in a student film once. Jay’s ears flushed thinking about what Tim _did_ deserve-- a loving partner, perhaps? Someone who cared about him, but cared enough to let him have his distance? Jay steered his thoughts away from that though. Tim’s safety was more important. And, frankly, whatever this tape meant, it meant Jay was in danger too. Whatever Alex had planned… it wasn’t good. But Jay had to find out what it was, even if it meant still playing along like they were looking for Amy. He had something _worth_ doing now-- protecting someone, rather than idly looking for clues. And he’d do it no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our sincerest apologies for the miniature and unexpected hiatus we took these past few months! The holidays are a very busy time, and, despite our best efforts to attempt to schedule time to write, got the best of us. 
> 
> Once again, we'd like to reassure you that this fic is NOT going to be abandoned! In fact, the chapter after this is already in progress, and should be expected soon. Thank you all so much for continuing to stick with us, and for your continued support!


	22. Infection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entry this chapter corresponds to is Entry #45.

Jay was predictable. Most people were, in fact. Everything could be brought down into code, and what was the code of a personality but patterns? So Totheark had found what he needed, and waited, and sure enough a silver car pulled into the hotel parking lot. It was undeniably Jay’s car, and of course, it was only further confirmed when Jay himself got out. Camera in hand, as always.  _ Predictable.  _ But TTA wasn’t. And he aspired to never be. Jay walked into the hotel to check in. TTA waited. Then he walked up to Jay’s unlocked car and opened the trunk, quickly digging through clothes and bypassing the laptop until he had found what he was searching for. Now he could do what had to be done.

_ Unfortunately,  _ there was a tiny roadblock. “HEY!!!” Jay shouted as he started running toward the car. Apparently he had checked in quite fast.  _ “Hey!!!”  _ Totheark booked it, with the one Jay called  _ Ammon _ ’s mask in hand. The  _ last  _ thing he needed to deal with tonight was a whiny lovesick cameraman. Jay, however, did not have the disadvantage of TTA’s headstart or being surrounded by the ever-changing trees of Rosswood, so he was somehow able to tackle Totheark right before they hit the end of the parking lot. They both hit the ground with a grunt, Totheark being careful of the mask and Jay falling like a ragdoll everywhere. 

“It’s  _ mine!”  _ Jay snarled, and Totheark would have rolled his eyes if Jay hadn’t been so  _ persistent,  _ grappling bodily with the very annoyed TTA who was desperately trying to shove Jay off. Totheark kicked at Jay and Jay kicked at Totheark and it would probably look hilarious from an outsider’s perspective, given how despite the desperation both of them were trying very hard to not damage the mask. TTA  _ almost  _ got away at several points, but Jay kept holding him physically back. The fight was interlaced with snarls from Jay-- “No!” and “Give it  _ back! _ ” But eventually Totheark won over. He smirked under his hood and stood several feet from Jay, curious to see what he’d do now.

Jay hauled himself shakily to his feet but stood at a distance, afraid of Totheark bolting again. “You can’t take it,” he wheezed, and Totheark patiently waited for Jay to explain himself. “It’s Ammon’s, he needs it, it-- it’s the only thing I have left of him right now!” Totheark could’ve laughed right there. As if Ammon was dead? No, of course not, and Jay knew that, he just missed the man. TTA stood there for another moment. There was almost a look of recognition on Jay’s face-- could he have spent so much time with Ammon he could actually read what Totheark was trying to say? It didn’t matter either way, actually. Totheark ran off again, mask in hand. He could hear the fading  _ “Please!”  _ of Jay as he did.

 

* * *

 

Several days later and Totheark was waiting again. He had spent the previous few days staking out the situation, and the day before that walking just to get to his destination. His timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Tim no longer sported the blue cast that meant his leg was out of commission. That was good for TTA had in mind. So now he stood outside Tim’s home, waiting for an opportunity to get in. The window worked fine as a doorway. It was just a matter of timing. And… perfect. Totheark opened the window and quietly snuck in. He knew where to look, and he knew what to do. He grabbed the nearest pill bottle that Tim had and simply waited. Coughing came from the other room, louder and turning into hacking, and Tim stumbled in. His eyes went wide upon seeing Totheark-- but there was nothing Tim could do. He collapsed and started seizing. Totheark watched, and waited, and pulled out the mask.

After what most people would consider an agonizing amount of time, but Totheark was simply used to, the seizing stopped. Tim did not sit back up. But TTA’s partner did. The man blinked, slowly, and assessed his situation. Apparently, his surroundings didn’t matter so much as the man standing in front of him, because he seemed satisfied upon seeing Totheark. Totheark set the mask down, and the man quickly snatched it up and put it on. Then he stood up. Totheark almost rolled his eyes as the man nearly stumbled-- no doubt still expecting the cast. He walked hesitantly still. And he walked away without so much as a second glance at Totheark. TTA patiently waited.

The man came back with his signature jacket on. Totheark nodded.  _ Now  _ they could get to business. Which was-- The man had tilted his head, seemingly confused at something.  _ Really.  _ He wanted to know where Jay was? Totheark made a dismissing wave with his hand, and decided to take the front door out. He knew that his companion would follow no matter what. And he did, though not without a bodily slump to say that he missed Jay and a glance at his leg to complain. What did Jay  _ do  _ to the man? He was acting like some lost puppy. With a slightly disgusted snort, Totheark wondered if that was why they called it  _ “puppy love.” _

They walked for a couple of hours and the world grew dark around them. Thankfully, Totheark’s companion remained complacent and simply followed behind as they walked the distance. He did, however, limp the whole time, which irritated Totheark for no end. The man still thought he had a cast, despite the obvious fact that he didn’t. So long as he was keeping up, though, Totheark begrudgingly supposed it didn’t matter. Soon, they entered a small wooded area, and the two of them braced themselves as they felt the world  _ shift  _ ever so slightly, feeling like a sickness. The air smelled ever so slightly of ozone. It was the influence of The Operator. It was overreaching; inescapable. And it meant they were going the right way.

Totheark’s companion looked at him in confusion as they entered the miasma in the surrounding area.  _ Why are we here?  _ He was clearly asking, and Totheark took advantage of the way they could  _ feel  _ the hum of the infected area to search for a perfect spot to set up. He could sense his companion through what was almost a radiation of energy, emitting the same feeling that you get right before a static shock. Totheark crouched down, and picked up a rock. His companion stiffened. TTA then made a sweeping gesture towards the man’s leg, and the man understood. Rage flowed off of him. Now  _ that  _ was more like it. He had his berserker back.

They were near Alex’s apartment. That was why they were there; and that was why the  _ presence  _ was so strong. With a small, “I’ll be back-- stay put” motion, Totheark left his companion to stew in his anger, and headed off towards where Alex was. Through the woods, down the path. This was going to be  _ fun.  _ There was nothing that TTA derived more pleasure from than ruining Alex’s day, and his masked companion getting the revenge he deserved was nothing if not just one big bonus to the whole situation. It was worth the setup, and worth the wait. Across the parking lot. Totheark could see Alex’s apartment from here.

And he could, faintly, sense Alex’s presence, in the way that he had been tainted by the effect of The Operator. He stared down the window. Cocked his head.  _ Do you know I’m here? Can you feel it?  _ He thought to himself. As if on cue, the blinds opened. Totheark smirked under his mask.  _ Got him.  _ He waited a beat, then started running, and camera in hand Alex bolted down the stairs after him.  _ “HEY!”  _ Alex yelled. Too bad TTA had such a good headstart. He paused, making sure Alex was still following them. Then he kept running. Despite the fact that Totheark was  _ obviously  _ leading him, Alex, fueled by rage, just didn’t care.

Back through the path. Pause to wait. Really, nobody ever caught Totheark unless he  _ wanted  _ to be caught. Then into the woods. His companion was waiting. In the darkness of the night and the enveloping trees, Alex lost the man. But Totheark did not lose Alex. Faintly, he could sense him. The man was wandering around, looking furiously for Totheark. They had picked a clearing. Totheark waited on the other end of it. Alex saw and sense TTA, and he  _ froze _ \-- leaving just enough time for the masked man to run and sucker punch him, bringing him to the ground. Alex groaned and clutched his face.

That looked like it hurt. Totheark crouched down, right next to Alex, to enjoy the show. The masked man very carefully grabbed the rock that Totheark had used to demonstrate with earlier, and aimed. Alex tried to stop him, and TTA secretly hoped the man would bash Alex’s head in, but he slammed it against the ground  _ beside  _ his head.  _ This is for what you did to my leg,  _ was the message. And his hands were around Alex’s throat. Alex could not fight against the sheer willpower of the man. But they were interrupted. In their haste to get revenge, they almost hadn’t noticed the growing tension in the air, the static gnawing at the back of their minds and raising the ends of the hairs on the few exposed surfaces they had.  _ The Operator was here.  _ In synch, they looked up, and ran.

That had  _ not  _ gone  _ quite  _ according to plan. As they tried to escape the area of influence surrounding Alex, they could sense him crashing about in the woods far behind them, still furious. It was faint, but Totheark could make it out. “ _ Get back here!”  _ Alex yelled. Fat chance they were doing that with The Operator acting as his guard dog. “ _ WHAT!”  _ They were nearly out of the area of influence now, and they hadn’t stopped running. Totheark heard it in his voice. The man was corrupted. His voice was dripping with the infection and static. “The next time I see you,  _ I’ll kill you!”  _ Out of range, they could no longer hear nor sense Alex, but neither Totheark nor his masked companion stopped running.


	23. Lost Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to apologize for such an unacceptably long hiatus without notice. Despite our best efforts, life continued to get in the way of our attempts at a regular update schedule. Moreso this time than before. We won't make any promises we can't keep, but with summer upon us and now with _both _writers in a stable place, we hope to not go such a long time without an update again!__

    The first thing Tim noticed when he opened his eyes was that there was _something_ on his face. He reached up for it and pried it off. It was the mask. _How did that get there?_ He thought Jay had kept it back at his hotel? Tim shook his head then sat upright— _he was on the floor?_ He looked around, it was his living room, his panic subsided a little, though not by much. He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, not to mention the dull ache creeping through his head. Slowly, Tim started to stand, a twinge of pain shot through his leg—the same leg he had found broken when he woke up eight weeks ago in Jay's hotel room. _What happened last night?_

    Once he was on his feet Tim felt a small wave of nausea come over him. He staggered to the couch and gripped the back for balance. Clutching his stomach to try to ease the uneasy feeling, he looked around the room and noticed his shoes were strewn about the floor, and not where they usually were. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “What did you do...?” Tim groaned. Sighing heavily, he straightened up and started to walk out of the living room, leaving the mask on the floor where he cast it aside.

    Tim staggered into the bathroom and hunched over the sink, turning on the tap and splashing water on his face. He looked up and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Briefly, he glanced at the toilet, but the nauseous feeling in his stomach wasn't strong enough for that, thankfully. Tim shook his head and opened the cabinet on the wall, eyes scanning the shelves until they fell upon the bottom shelf where two pill bottles were. Empty. _Where were his pills?_ He tried to remember the events of the previous night.

* * *

 

    _It was nighttime. Something was wrong. Things hadn't been right for a while. This night was worse. His pills had been going missing for a while. Little by little. He needed them this night. He could feel it coming on. Static crept into his brain. His lungs felt heavy. Where were his pills? Coughing heavily, he searched around to no avail. Where were his pills? Someone was in his house. Who was that? Someone was in his house. Did he—had he seen him before? Where were his pills? The static increased. He coughed harder. He dropped to the floor. Everything went dark._

* * *

 

_Was that it? Was that all he could remember?_ Tim had retreated to his bedroom, curled up on his bed, arms around himself. He had been getting better-- or so he thought-- but last night's events clearly proved otherwise. To have his pills go missing. To have someone break into his house. To have... _him_ take over again. Jay claimed he was nice. _Nice?_ Tim scoffed. If he was really nice he'd _leave him alone_ . This was too much to handle. Tim hugged himself tighter. He wanted to make himself as small as possible and disappear into his bed. But he couldn't. He realized hiding in his room like a scared little kid wasn't going to do anything. This wasn't Jay running around in the woods playing detective, this was someone breaking into _his_ house, taking _his_ pills, making that _other person in his head_ take over and do _whatever_ it was he did last night.

    But what was he supposed to do? He wasn't exactly in control of the situation. He thought he was getting better after leaving Jay. He'd gotten a job, he'd gotten on better medication, his leg had healed. Tim held his head in his hands. He was shaky and panicky and couldn't focus right, everything was cycling through his mind, over and over, everything that had happened in the past few weeks. But waking up with that mask on was a literal wake up call, he had to do _something._ If he didn't figure out what to do, he'd surely wake up like that again.

    With a sigh Tim rubbed his eyes and very slowly got up from his bed, minding the ache in his bad leg. It was time to do something. He kept thinking about Jay—waking up in that hotel room, watching those videos, what Jay had said about… _Ammon_ . Tim shook his head. The idea that Jay had _named_ it was...creepy? Endearing? He wasn't sure, he didn't know what to think about Jay to be honest. All he did know was that he needed Jay's help, and if his memory of Jay's situation served him right, Jay needed _someone's_ help. And Tim figured that someone was going to have to be him.

    But what about his life? His job? Tim wasn't sure he could just leave everything like Jay had to. But Jay didn't have much of a choice. And now Tim didn't either. Oh no. Work. _What time was it?_ Tim reached for his phone and checked the time. It was past noon?! He also had two messages from work, probably asking where he was. Tim let out a groan as he checked the most recent message; his manager was _not_ pleased with his absence. Tim calmed down enough to call in.

    “Hey, this is Tim. Yeah I, just got your messages, obviously you figured out I'm not coming in today. Honestly I'm, really sick, and I don't think I'm gonna make it in tomorrow either if I'm being honest. Yeah I-- I know, I'm sorry, but it's just not possible for me to come in. See you Wednesday. Thanks.” Hanging up, Tim breathed a sigh of… not _quite_ relief, but his panic was starting to subside. He could think a little more clearly without worrying about work for the near future. But he still had to plot his next move: Contacting Jay.

    It should be relatively easy, just call the man and talk things out, right? Tim wasn't so sure, he hadn't exactly left Jay on a positive note. And he hadn't kept up on Jay's YouTube like he said he would either. He figured he'd better catch up on that before calling, just in case any of that came up. So maybe it wasn't so easy. Time to watch some videos.

    He moved to his cluttered office room and booted up his laptop. The Marble Hornets YouTube page came up easily and Tim noticed a few new videos had been posted since Jay showed him everything, so he had a little watching to do. Entry #30 stood out to him first, considering it contained Totheark's footage of breaking into Alex's apartment-- _a common thread,_ Tim noted-- and Jay going on another hunt for tapes. But then Entry #31 hit him hard when Alex mentioned him by name. _What did Alex mean?_ Jay hadn't contacted him. Tim had made a point not to give Jay his number so he _couldn't_ contact him. He hadn't intended on _actually_ needing Jay's number.

    It was time. He had to call Jay. “Where did I...” Tim muttered to himself, shuffling around the room, picking things up and putting them down until he found what he was looking for: the slip of paper from the hotel paper pad with Jay's phone number on it. He inhaled deeply and exhaled with a sigh. Tim pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number tentatively. The line began to ring and Tim's heart started to race.

    There was a sudden quiet that indicated Jay had picked up, before he answered with “Hello?” Tim took a last, shaky breath. “Jay?” There was a pause, as Jay did what Tim assumed was processing that Tim had actually made use of the number Jay gave him. “T-Tim! What’s going on, uh, why are you calling? Everything okay?” Tim gritted his teeth. He hated to admit it, but… “Not entirely. We need to talk.” Jay went quiet. After an uncomfortable moment he admitted, “Totheark broke into my car a few nights ago and stole Amm-- stole the mask. Does this have something to do with that...?”

    “Yeah. I woke up today with that mask on, I’m assuming _he_ got out again.” Jay made a noise that sounded like he was grimacing on the other end. “You know about as much as I do about that. I wasn’t exactly able to follow Totheark after he took that mask from me.” Beat. “I’m sorry.” Tim took a moment to process that. Jay knew as much as he did. Meaning he didn’t know anything at all about what happened. But that wasn’t on Jay. “It wasn’t your fault.” Tim finally said. “That Totheark guy caused it this time. I don’t know why, but I remember seeing him in my house before I passed out last night.”

    “Huh.” Jay said. “I… I guess that means he brought the mask over _knowing_ that it was going to bring out Ammon.” Jay inhaled sharply. “I mean-- Yeah.” Tim winced at Ammon’s name, but he couldn’t really fault Jay for it. Easier than anything else Jay could’ve called him. “Well, it wasn’t the _mask_ that brought him out. He took my… pills. It’s a long story, I’ll explain later.” There was a quickness to the way Jay replied. “Later. As in, what, not right now? I thought you wanted to talk about everything…?”

    “Yeah. I did-- I-- I do. Look, I can’t do this over the phone okay?” And now Jay spoke pointedly. He was clearly struggling. “Not over the phone. Well… do you want to meet in person? It’d be easier to talk, maybe. I don’t-- I don’t really know where you live, but name a place and I can be there in at least a few hours. I’m still on the road anyways, I mean, hopping hotels and stuff, so it’s not like it’d be out of the way for me.” Tim thought for a moment. Did he even know anywhere they _could_ meet up? Then he realized there was a simpler solution. “Alright, well, if you’re on the road, could you just find a hotel and call me back with the address?” He asked.

    “Oh, yeah, that works great actually,” Jay replied. “I know I just got here but clearly if Totheark knows where I am-- I mean, yeah, yeah that works. I’ll uh, call you back when I get there then.” There was another pause. “Yeah, seeya.” Tim hung up. He tried to process what happened. He was definitely meeting Jay today, he just had to wait on him to call back. That was fine. He could wait a while. Tim needed some time to think anyway, and he had to do some things before leaving.

    A few minutes were spent pacing the hallway getting his story straight in his head; figuring out exactly what to tell Jay and when. Once that was figured out Tim headed back to his room to pack a bag. He wasn't settled on his game plan with Jay as far as how long he'd stay, but he had to be prepared for anything right? Yeah. Tim went into the closet and pulled out his duffel bag. He packed it rather quickly with enough clothes for a few days. Satisfied with that, a thought occurred to him: _His pills_. He didn't have any in the medicine cabinet but what if he had some stashed somewhere else?

    Tim checked a few places around his house where he'd started stashing pills when they'd begun to go missing. One place in particular behind his couch in the living room. He moved the piece of furniture a bit and bingo! There they were. Tim pocketed the orange bottle and put the couch back into place just in time for his phone to ring. It was Jay with the hotel address. Time to get going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MaskyIsNotAProxy did most of the writing for this chapter! Credit where credit is due-- they keep Tim in-character and keep track of all the important little details that make this fic seem alive. This fic would not exist, and would have died long ago if not for their brilliance.


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